Impostor
by Bouncebackability
Summary: Pretending to be someone you're not can lead to all kinds of problems. James and Harry struggle when they switch places thanks to a dodgy potion. Some LJ.
1. Losing face

Gryffindors feared potions lessons more than Muggles would fear double maths. The exact science and complex method were hard enough but the potions master is what made it unbearable. Professor Snape was head of Slytherin house and partial to a little bit of favouritism, resulting in the lessons being pure hell for those not in his house. Harry Potter got more stick than most, not only was there house rivalry in his case but also personal discrepancies, Severus Snape hated Harry's father with a passion and now James was no longer in the picture after dying in 1981 Harry had inherited his legacy.  
  
The potions dungeon was colder than usual, being in the north of the UK and also being underground was not a good combination at the best of times and adding the gale force winds outside into consideration most people would be distinctly peeved. Harry's potion was going wrong and he knew it, while Hermione next to him had a smooth white liquid Harry's potion was deep brown and giving off a stench of pear drops. "Potter! Didn't you look at the board? Doesn't it distinctly detail each step? Only someone of your arrogance could go wrong. Did you decide to experiment?" Harry didn't even look up, once the insults would have bothered him, now he realised they passed quicker if you did not retaliate. "I am sure you will have no qualms in showing the effect of your potion" Snape dipped a small vial into the potion and took out some of the liquid, eventually passing it to his pupil "Drink up Potter".  
  
Under normal circumstances Harry wouldn't have touched the stuff, but this was Snape and he was not going to lose face in front of that greasy slimeball. He downed the potion in one, it wasn't particularly pleasant but the polyjuice he tried in second year was much worse, this didn't make him want to instantly vomit although the feeling of swallowing cotton wool that accompanied it was sufficiently uncomfortable. Much to Harry's relief nothing happened, OK it wasn't the desired result of causing invisibility but at least he wasn't any worse off for it. "30 points from Gryffindor for your failure Potter, class dismissed".  
  
Everyone left the lab in a hurry, none more so than Harry and his best friends Ron and Hermione. "The sadistic geht, that was damn dangerous. It could have done anything." Ron was fuming on Harry's behalf. "He probably knew it would do nothing, we know Snape, he's just a bitter and twisted individual." Hermione reasoned. Typical, Harry thought. Ron hated Snape almost as much as Harry did where as Hermione had a deep dislike but her academic disposition made it difficult for her to criticise any teacher. "Come on Hermione, surely you can remember his first lesson about the whole 'the accurate science of potions', who knows what he could have done."  
  
The group were only 100 yards from the portrait of the fat lady that marked the entrance to their house common room when Harry felt odd. "Wait up guys" Harry whispered, struggling to get anything out of his mouth, he fell to his knees his vision blurring. "That bastard Snape, knew something like this would happen". Ron sounded outraged but Harry brushed off his concerns "It won't be that, just feel a little faint and sickly...I'll be OK when I get some sugar in me." He climbed to his feet and semi-comatose made his way through the portrait and to his dorm. And as soon as he got there he collapsed onto his bed. 


	2. Swap

**Harry opened his eyes to find 3 teenage boys staring down at him, looking rather concerned. Harry got up and sat against the headboard and instinctively reached for his glasses at the side of his bed he put them on and inspected the strangers closer. He was sure he had never seen these 3 individuals but they all looked highly familiar although he could not place them, maybe they were just kids from the corridors whose faces where lodged in his subconscious. Finally one of them spoke. "Are you all right there? You gave us all a scare" The buy who said this was Harry's age with pale grey eyes and long hair tied back loosely in a ponytail. "Yeah, I'm fine, just a little dizzy that's all. Where did Ron and Hermione go?" "Who?" said a large boy with watery eyes and a snout like nose; Harry sub- consciously christened him rat-boy. "You know, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger? Ron's a tall red head and Hermione is dead clever and had loads of bushy brown hair. We are usually seen together, both sixth year Gryffindors." Harry was surprised, most people knew the trio, especially those in Gryffindor and as Harry was apparently in his dorm he figured that the people here were Gryffindors too. Inspecting their robes just confirmed this suspicion, how come he'd never seen them before?  
  
"Prongs? Are you OK...you know full well that there are no 6th year Gryffindors called Ron and Hermione." Harry sat bolt upright, eyes wide with fear. "What did you call me?" "Prongs...what's up James. Are you sure you are OK?" The dark haired boy looked alarmed now, as if he was addressing someone who had lost his marbles. Harry knew exactly where he was now, he was in his dorm but the catch was that it wasn't his time. He was in the Marauder's era, he could kill Snape, it must have been that potion and because it went wrong and he didn't know why he couldn't even try and rectify it.**

James woke up on his bed, reaching to the cabinet on the side he put on his glasses and 2 faces came into focus at the side of his bed. A tall red headed boy and a girl with masses of brown bushy hair who took that precise moment to yell "Harry! You feeling any better?" This took James by shock, not only did he not know this girl who seemed to care so deeply about him but she called him Harry. "I'm not Harry, sorry. Where are the others?" James asked subconsciously messing up his hair with his right hand while supporting himself with his left. "What you going on about? What others?" The redhead looking alarmed now, almost as alarmed as James was feeling. "You know, Sirius, Remus and Peter. They are all sixth year Gryffindor, Sirius has dark hair and we are usually seen together" Hermione interrupted him "What year is it?" Ron gave her a look that clearly suggested he was starting to doubt her sanity too. "1977, why you ask?" The couple looked at each other, looking rather shaken. "Shit" 


	3. BAFTA failure

**"Prongs, what's going on?" The dark haired boy asked...the dark haired boy with the same eyes as Sirius. **

**"Nothing, just felt a little woozy. It's passed now, I had you scared though". Harry cracked what he hoped would be a convincing grin. **

**"You geht, that was scary" Remus mused. Harry had just heard one of his professors swear; he found the thought vaguely amusing. He decided to keep up the charade, pretend you're James and hopefully the effects of the potion will pass and if they don't...well he'd bother about that later. Harry got up and started to leave the room, **

**"What we got next?" the looks on the others faces seemed to suggest he'd screwed it up again. **

**"It's Saturday, there is nothing next. James, let's get you to the hospital wing, you must have whacked your head on the way down or something." Remus looked at James in a concerned way, as if wondering the best way to get out of a triky situation.**

**Harry couldn't let them take him to Madame Pomfrey but the only was he was going to get out of it was by coming clean, having to tell the truth. In less than 20 minutes he had successfully convinced everyone he had gone loopy. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you" came his eventual reply; hoping they would leave it at that but knowing full well they wouldn't. The story he was about to tell was far fetched in the extreme. If they didn't believe him he had certainly got his father locked up in St Mungo's for the short term. **

**"Try us" Lupin, it had to be him. Pale skin sandy hair, meaning the third person was...no, he wasn't going to acknowledge him. He couldn't change anything, at least not yet. His time would come eventually. **

**"I just want to check something first, have any of you got a mirror or something?" Harry knew he was quite possibly giving the impression of his father being a flaming homosexual but it would simplify the explanation one way or another. He needed to know if he was in his Dad's body or if people hadn't realised just because the father and son resemblance was so strong.  
  
"Typical James; wakes up and wants to check his looks." Sirius said with a sarcastic smile plastered across his face. Remus however was rummaging through his trunk. "Here you go" he muttered passing Harry an antique mirror with a chunky pewter frame. Looking into it he saw what he wanted to see the most, his green eyes. He looked at the spot on his forehead where his scar was; even though it was obscured by his mop of hair it was just visible to those who knew where to look. How was he going to approach this without sounding like a madman? Harry decided to launch straight into it; at least he still looked like Harry Potter.  
  
"I don't think I should tell you this. It will probably screw things up somewhere but I am not James Potter. I'm called Harry and Ron and Hermione who I was talking about before are my best friends at Hogworts, where I'm a sixth year Gryffindor." Harry looked round to see 3 disbelieving faces. **

**"Nice try, but you have get up earlier than that to catch us out." Sirius laughed, that bark like laugh he had heard so many times before. "Look at me...I have Green eyes not hazel like James" Harry lifted his fringe "and I have this beastie on my head." **

**"That's an easy thing to do, changing eye colour you learn in forth year and a scar can be done with muggle make up or anything" Obviously Sirius was still not convinced.  
  
Harry knew it would be hard to persuade people otherwise but these 3 would work out something was wrong instantaneously. For starters Harry didn't know anything about his father really, so how was he supposed to know how he acted, even basic question such as when is James' date of birth would have him flustered. This was safer, as soon as someone learnt about this then the better help he would get pretending to be someone he wasn't. However this was infuriating him. How could he prove anything? **

**"OK, use the map and read my name on it why don't you? Or if you can get your hands on any verituserum I'd tell you exactly the same." With this Remus yet again started rummaging through his trunk, eventually pulling out a piece of parchment a lot newer looking than the battered old map Harry used back in 1996. Tapping his wand on it while saying "I do solemnly swear I am up to no good" lines started to etch across the parchment, Remus paled when he saw the name before taking a deep breath and stating **

**"He's right, you can't trick the map."**


	4. Faking it

"What do you mean what year is it?" James was getting impatient. Where the hell where the other Marauders when they were needed. The red head still looked distinctly unamused and didn't seem to share the girl's panic.

"Ron, it's Harry's dad. Look, the eyes are different and if he pushed his hair back there'd be no scar. That bloody potion has done something." At this Ron walked towards James and looked, eventually pushing back his fringe.

"Hermione, what are we going to do? Remember that Dumbledore is away. That greasy haired git!" He stepped back away from James, obvious anger etched across his face

Hermione took control of the situation, she obviously was the brains of the operation. "We'll have to leave it until he gets back, until then you are going to have to pretend to be Harry. Sorry. I'm Hermione and he's Ron and we are going to get you through this until he comes back."

* * *

**Harry felt relief flood him; he'd finally got them to believe his story. "So, you believe me?" he asked, just wanting that final confirmation. **

**"Yes, but what do we do now. Dumbledore's away." Remus started pacing while Sirius kept looking between Harry's eyes and scar. Peter had edged away, obviously aware of the new boy ignoring him. Harry wasn't ready to confront him yet. **

**"Can't we just pretend everything's normal until he gets back?" Harry asked hopefully, he didn't want to go into details but he knew he could trust Dumbledore in any time. **

**"Yes, I think we should do that. No one will be able to tell the difference between you 2 anyway. I take it your related to our dear James?" Remus asked, almost in a tone suggesting that this happened all the time. **

**"Aye, he was my dad." Harry kicked himself, he used past tense...he'd have to stop that or they would suspect something was wrong. Luckily this time it appeared everything had passed over their heads. Well, they did have enough to digest for the moment. **

**"How is Prongs your Dad...are you saying your a time traveller too?" Sirius almost laughed, but the way today was going he could honestly say nothing would surprise him anymore. He was seriously thinking of going to the bookies and putting a bet on Elvis Presley crashing a flying saucer into the Loch Ness Monster. **

**"Er, yeah. It's 1996 for me. My potions master hates me so made me drink my potion at the end of class even though it was wrong. I thought it did nothing but about 10 minutes later I ended up here. I wonder what's happened to my Dad. Do you reckon he could be in 1996? Do you reckon this is permanent?" Harry started the ball rolling in his head, so many questions and no answers, well at least not until Dumbledore came back. **

**"It'll be OK, Sirius put a reassuring hand on Harry's shoulder. He was taking on the god fatherly role even though he didn't know it, a smile crept along the young traveller's face.**

* * *

"So, let me get this right. I have a son called Harry who is here at Hogworts in 1996 and you are his best friends?" Ron and Hermione were sitting on the bed opposite.

"Yeah, there's some other stuff which we are going to have to tell you. But don't ask questions about it, OK? Just accept what we tell you because trust me, you cannot change the future no matter how much you want to." Hermione reminded James of a professor, so serious about everything. Bet she's like Lily Evans he thought to himself.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." James was getting inpatient at this

"OK, Harry's famous because he survived aveda kedevra from one of the most powerful dark-wizards of all time when he was a baby. He has a scar on his forehead which we are either going to have to mock up on your head or push your fringe down to cover where it would be. He's also quiet which I've heard is the opposite of you. Just keep your head down because you are going to get attention, but you've got to act like Harry and he hates it" Hermione said

"He survived aveda kenevra? How?" James looked excited; his son was a powerful wizard.

"We can't tell you, give up asking because you are not going to get an answer. Now please be quieter" Hermione looked at James pleadingly, she obviously thought he could not pull this off.

"OK. I can do that." Hermione and Ron exchanged nervous glances to each other. "Really I can!"

* * *

**Harry and the Marauders talked for ages, mainly Sirius asking questions about the future which Harry consistently refused to answer. "Am I going to be famous", "What's my girlfriend called?" "Whose your mum?" The time passed quickly but in the put of his stomach Harry wanted to go back to his time, where he knew that one slip wouldn't affect everything he had ever known. It didn't take too long, after tea a familiar nausea came over Harry as he was sitting by the fire in the tower. Sirius looked concerned but Harry just told him "I guess this jaunt is over with, bye everybody" and with that Harry blacked out.**

* * *

The trio skipped tea and instead went and sat by the lake. James wanted to know more about his son, so Ron and Hermione were trying to delicately piece together pieces of information that wouldn't harm anyone. James was gutted when he found out Harry wasn't a chaser but said being youngest player on a Hogworts quidditch team made up for it. The three talked about adventures and whom they liked and disliked in their respective times. Suddenly James passed out. Ron and Hermione looked at each other scared of what to do. If they took James to the hospital wing they would realise something was up, then they would be in a mess. Also James might hear something he shouldn't know bout past excursions. James opened his eyes with a snap and sat bolt upright,

"You all right there?" Hermione asked, but with that she realised Harry's eyes were green and not the hazel of James,

"Harry! You're back!" she shouted as she wrapped her arms around him in a hug which could have possibly broken some ribs.

"Yeah, so I take it my dad was here then?" Harry asked, grateful to back in his own time for once.

"Yeah, we were so worried. So where did you go?"

Harry let off a knowing smirk "We swapped timelines"

* * *

**James was awoken by Sirius shaking him "Harry? James? Anyone?" **

**"Get off Padfoot, yeah I'm back." James pulled himself upright in his chair, during his time passed out he appeared to have fallen somewhat. **

**"You'll never guess what happened" Sirius was animated, he couldn't help but tell everything, **

**"Let's see, did my son from 1996 come here complete with a cool scar on his forehead?" asked James. Sirius looked deeply disappointed, **

**"You got us, you twit, I'll get you back for this one" Shit, he hadn't meant to have done that. **

**"No, it wasn't a prank, I just found myself in 1996 with 2 people called Hermione and Ron who are supposedly best mates with my son". The conversation continued, it was quite some adventure, although Sirius appeared deeply disappointed that the future wasn't too different from their times. **

**"Best thing of all though? Harry is a kickass quidditch player who survived the killing curse." James smiled from ear to ear in only a way fathers can do when proud of their sons.**

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_Cheers for the reviews everybody, I know this chapter is bitty; the rest of it isn't as bad just lots of clearing up bits to be done in this one. _

_Keep Smiling, Kimmiijay Kotchanski_


	5. Work hard, play hard

It had been 2 days since Harry's jaunt to the past, looking back he wished he had done so much more in it, maybe even meet his mother for the first time. He knew it wouldn't be the same but it would be the closest he was ever likely to get. Harry sat absent mindedly doodling on a piece of parchment in front of him, he was sat on the back row of Professor Binn's History of Magic class. Harry honestly wondered why pupils were subjected to this, maybe it was to build stamina as Binns droned on about Ed the Educated slaying Ug the Unclean over Si the stunning. Hermione was avidly taking notes, the only person in the class strong enough to resist the hypnotic tones of the late professor's voice. Ron had started folding his paper this way and that, almost as if making a fortuneteller. Harry guess it would probably end up being a paper aeroplane or whatever the wizarding equivalent was.

* * *

**Sitting in the library surrounded by muggle and wizarding textbooks alike, James was bored, free periods where usually fantastic but this was right in the middle of the day and most other people where in divination. James quit the subject after predicting his death repeatedly started to depress him; he had now taken Muggle studies, which was challenging for James. His pure blood family had no need for muggle appliances so he had never learnt of them. This also meant the subject was useless for him, but at least it beat the crap out of the woolly discipline of divination, which had no redeeming features as far as James was concerned. Until the beginning of the week James thought predicting the future was impossible, after all it could be changed, now he wasn't too sure. Who says that he was the only person to ever go off on such an expedition? Looking down at his Muggle studies essay James felt a feeling of dread, he wasn't going to fail this subject quite as disastrously as the alternative, but he was still doubtful for an A. This thought made James feel sick, the room started to spin around him and he slumped unconscious for the second time this week**

* * *

James woke up and looked round, he was in a lesson of some nature; Professor Binns was at the front. He must have dropped off during History of Magic again, he have been in the middle of odd and exceedingly boring dream, he was sure he had been in the library surrounded by muggle books. James looked to his right and his heart fell as he saw a familiar red head. Looking down at the piece of parchment in front of him it became apparent he was once again in the future. James prayed that Binns was no more alert these days as he whispered a single word into Ron's ear.

"Shit". Ron instantly looked round and saw James hazel eyes greeting him.

"Push your fringe down, cover your forehead. You've got to look like Harry." Ron kicked Hermione on the other side of him, she swung round ready to hit him until she spotted 2 hazel eyes staring back from where she would expect to see Harry's dazzling green ones.

"Shit" she muttered under her breath.

* * *

**Harry awoke in the library surrounded by muggle books. Waking up he could understand - History of Magic was a battle to stay awake during - but why had he suddenly been transported across the school. One thought came into his mind and he didn't like it. Opening the front of one of the textbooks he looked at the date stamps. There wasn't a single one after 1976, he repeated this a couple of times until it dawned on him, he was back in the past. Rummaging through his pockets he found his battered old marauder's map, tapping it and saying the password it showed everyone else up in divination. James mustn't take that subject, that's why he's here. He is on a free. Looking around Harry finally laid eyes on the essay in front of him, in one corner the name James Potter was written in a quick angular hand while underneath this was the essay title "Name various forms of Muggle transportation and compare their uses". Harry smiled, he could do this with his eyes closed and as he may be here for some time he decided to get going, 4 rolls of parchment later Harry stuck a note to the front page.  
  
James/Dad  
  
Did the essay for you, you seemed to be struggling, I guess our handwriting is different so you may have to rewrite it later. I know it's right; I got brought up with muggle stuff all around. My mum's muggle born.  
  
If this happens again feel free to do my essays for me and don't you dare lose my place on the quidditch team in 1997.  
  
Harry.**

****

**He hoped he could disappear back in a couple of hours just like before. Re-reading his essay Harry jumped as Sirius shouted "Hey Prongs!", this got him a cautionary look from Ms Pince, the Hogworts librarian. Harry lowered his voice to a whisper as he lifted his head up **

**"It happened again". The others all seemed to catch onto what he meant. **

**"Well, lets get back to the dorm, there are less people about there." Remus added, although he was with the pranksters this guy was born to be a professor. While Sirius was a totally different person than the one that emerged from Azkaban Remus was recognisable in both looks and attitude.**

* * *

The end of History of Magic couldn't come soon enough for Ron, Hermione and James. As soon as the bell went the trio threw their books into their bags and pegged it to the tower, eventually locking themselves away in the boy dorm hoping that no one else would be about for some time.

"I thought this was over" Hermione ranted.

"Well you're not the only one," James was peeved, after all it was him who was seemingly destined to spend his life in 2 times. Well at least if it carried on happening maybe he would find something out about the future which Ron and Hermione where so desperate to keep away from him, he was a fool for dropping divination.

"Do you know why this started happening?" James asked, the day of the first swap had been entirely average, no pranks no accidents, no injuries.

"Harry had to drink a potion in front of class which had gone wrong. We thought it didn't do anything but as soon as lesson finished and we got up here you 2 swapped." James looked alarmed, drinking a bad potion; that was stupid. First day of term the lecture is always about potion making being "an exact and subtle science", any teacher making their pupils drink their potions must be stupid unless they are 100% certain they are right.  
  
"Well, sorry to be a bore Hermione but me and James are going to have to go. Quidditch practise, I'll fill you in on the way down." James suddenly felt better, quidditch practise. OK, he would have to play seeker probably but it was still quidditch. Ron had stated rummaging in his trunk, pulling out his robes and broom, James decided that he had better do the same. Looking through the trunk he found his own invisibility cloak, and found it pleasant to know he was still encouraging rules breaking even with his advanced years. Eventually James found Harry's robes.

"Do you reckon they'll fit?" He asked hopefully.

"James, you 2 look identical of course they will fit." Hermione said.

"Where does he keep his broom?" It didn't appear to be in the trunk, James couldn't bear the thought of his son having to use a school broom, and surely he wouldn't be that cruel to his son.

"Try under his bed" Pulling himself under his mattress James spotted quite possibly the best looking broom he had ever seen "Wow, these babies have really come on in 20 years" he muttered, admiring the broom.

"It's an international standard broom, he got it in third year. It's fantastic to ride, even if you are not used to being the seeker there is a chance you will get away with it." James still stared at the broom, The Firebolt.

"Come on we'll be late at this rate, Harry is the captain." Ron grabbed James and dragged him to the quidditch pitch along the way detailing the team. It emerged that Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan, who shared a dorm with Harry and Ron, were beaters, Ron himself was the keeper and the remaining 3 were the chasers. The team played well, James was no Harry but he was sufficient enough for the team just to presume Harry was having a bad day, he still caught the snitch although his dives were not quite as daring as his sons they got the job done. He barked orders like a true captain, although maybe a little sterner than Harry and seemed to focus almost entirely on the chasers. This bothered no one; they just presumed it was a new attempt to get the team to win.


	6. Information is a Weapon of Mass Destruct...

**In the boys dorm Harry looked around at the 3 people he knew would be his godfather, professor and enemy in the future. Harry pushed the latter out of his mind, he couldn't change anything; too many lives were at risk. This was Peter, not the Wormtail of the future. Remus broke the silence  
  
"How did it happen this time", Harry looked panicked. Last time there was a trigger, the potion, but this time it had just happened.  
  
"I don't know," he muttered, still scanning possibilities through his head. He was in history of magic, not even a practical class. A realisation dawned on Harry; this was going to probably keep occurring spontaneously. At least one thing eased his mind; he didn't feel ill this time when it happened. Maybe eventually it would just occur in a snap; maybe Dumbledore would do one better and be able to stop the whole switching as soon as he returned from his trip. Another thought settled deep in Harry's stomach though, it was only 2 weeks until the six-week holiday. How was he meant to tell his Dad he didn't live with them because they were dead? Uncle Vernon would no doubt bring it up at some point and it does look bad that he doesn't live with his parents without the 'We've raised you for 16 years' speech.  
  
Harry must have looked sad and withdrawn "What's up?" Sirius asked, he was so grateful the rat wasn't conversing with him. It made it all easier.  
  
"I was just thinking, there's some stuff in the future which my dad can't find out. It would change everything but it's inevitable that as long as we keep swapping he'll find at least some of it out. Even if it's just looking through my stuff and realising who my mum was." Shit, he'd done it again. He was so used to referring to his parents in past tense that he was finding it odd to change the habit of a lifetime. This time the others picked up on it.  
  
"Was?" Remus asked looking concerned. Harry said nothing, but the silence revealed enough.  
  
"She's dead isn't she?" Harry nodded, tears forming in his eyes. He wanted to tell them everything but he couldn't. This was going to hurt him so much, but at least he'd get a chance to know her, sort of.  
  
"Sorry," Sirius mumbled. Harry just smiled and wiped his eyes; he wasn't going to cry here.**

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* * *

Walking back to the common room James was amazed at how many people stared at him. He had always been in a rush before but dawdling through the corridors he noticed most people where looking his way or muttering, "It's him" as they passed. It was justified really, no one had ever survived avada kedevra and Harry was so young when he did it. James was knackered, and looking at Ron it appeared he was feeling the same. After having a quick shower James went up to bed, no one else was up there as Ron had decided to stay in the common room with Hermione; they would make such a good couple James thought to himself while looking through the trunk at the bottom of his bed for something that would suffice as sleep wear. While rummaging in the crevices of the trunk he realised all Harry's muggle clothes were old and must be at least 2 sizes too big for him, yet he had an international standard broom. James brushed off his concerns; he had probably just not changed. Quidditch gets priority. End of. He eventually reached for an oversize tee shirt and threw it on. He continued to examine the contents of the trunk for something of interest, and then he found it, a photo album hidden at the bottom of the trunk. He pulled it out and retired to bed.  
  
The first picture was of the marauders all together, there were loads of them and some of Lily Evans' crew too, James wondered why Lily would feature in here so prominently. He wouldn't give the thought of her being Harry's mother houseroom, they hated each other. Their joint project in muggle studies had been successfully avoided for 3 solid weeks and counting, they would not spend time in a room together unless absolutely necessary. Flicking through James eventually found one from outside his schooldays, it was a wedding photo and stood next to him was a red headed green haired woman...Evans. 'That's a turn up for the books' he thought to himself as he continued flicking through, eventually there were a couple of the 3 of them. Lily, James and baby Harry. He looked so cute and it appeared that they were the perfect family, some on the beech, some having a picnic. James continued until he saw one of Ron and Hermione and a young boy who looked just like him, bar the eye colour and the scar, Harry. The resemblance was scary; he could pass as his twin. That's why he was getting away with it here; their own mothers would have a hard time telling them apart. Then it dawned on James, why did the photos of the three of them stop when Harry was only a baby? Why were there no photos between the ages of about 1 and 11? James continued to look through the book, there were pictures of the three of them growing up through Hogworts. One with a red haired family James took to be the Weasley's. There were no family photos at all. At that moment Ron entered the room.  
  
"Hi James, you alright?" looking up at Ron it was clear that something was wrong, it was then that Ron noticed Harry's photo album open on the bed next to him.  
  
"Are we a bad family?" James asked, pleading in his eyes, "Why doesn't he have photos of us? Are we horrible to him?" Ron paled and sat next to James on Harry's bed.  
  
"No, it's just that you couldn't always be there for him. You were occupied, you loved him so much though and so did his mum." James noticed something else, past tense.  
  
"You used past tense, does he not keep in touch with us anymore? Are we dead?" James was quite amazed how easy this last phrase came to him; it would be easier for him to come to terms with dying young than him being poor father.  
  
Ron didn't know what to do. Hermione would tell him to bullshit James, but Ron knew he would find out the truth anyway. He decided for a different tact, if he provided solid evidence that the Potter's were a close family surely that would ease the grief a little bit. Finally Ron decided his plan, "Get changed James, we are going to the library."  
  
James wondered why they were doing this, he half wanted to shout at Ron for being insensitive but he gave him the benefit of the doubt. Throwing on Harry's robes Ron wrapped the invisibility cloak round them and they advanced to the deserted library. Ron walked over to the DADA section and pulled out a book, 'The Rise and fall of the Dark Arts', and passed it to James.  
  
"It will tell you the story," Ron said. Sitting on a chair and gesturing for James to join him. James reluctantly sat down and looked in the index for Harry's name. He was sure everything was connected to Harry's scar. He found the page he wanted, 217, and turning to it found a full chapter dedicated to his son. He read it, and it there it was in black and white "James Potter (1959 - 1981)" right next to "Lily Potter (nee Evans) (1960- 1981)", James read with deep fascination. Harry had destroyed the dark wizard Voldemort, the same Voldemort who was killing so many people in the 1970s. James and Lily had died trying to protect their son from him.  
  
"Come on, let's get back". Ron threw the cloak back over James and took him to the tower. The pair collapsed into bed, but neither slept all night. 


	7. Dazed and Confused

**The marauders had realised just how different Harry was to them, he was quiet and considerate and appeared not to play pranks, although he had no objections to most of them. Most people hadn't realised that James wasn't around just thinking he had put a charm on himself to change his eye colour or he was being quieter because he was ill. It had been a full 24 hours since they last change over and Harry was still in 1977. Harry was sitting in the common room checking over the muggle studies essay for his dad. The others had gone off on one of their full moon excursions but Harry not being an animagus couldn't attend. So here he was alone in a time where he knew no one but everyone thought they knew him, he knew he was going to end up in trouble unless the switch back occurred soon.  
  
Reading his essay through one last time Harry was alarmed how he was being studious, possibly for the first time in his life. Well, at least when it came to academic achievement and not life preserving. It was with great surprise that he heard his name being shouted.  
  
"Potter?" he looked up into a pair of eyes just like his own He was looking at his mother for the first time he could remember.  
  
"You look like you've seen a ghost, stop staring at me already". Harry looked down at his paper, tears forming in his eyes again. He couldn't do this.  
  
"Sorry Lily" He mumbled head low into his parchment, he would not cry, his mum didn't know who she was and he couldn't tell her.  
  
"We are on Lily now are we? What happened to good old Evans? Anyway we have that project to do for muggle studies on money, it has to be in on Friday and I am not going to fail for you, so I'm going to do it now and if you don't want to help I'll just go in for unequal splitting of the marks."  
  
Shit, this was going to be hard but he couldn't push his mum away, he needed to know what she was like. Looking up he just said "sure". At least it was muggle studies..  
  
"Don't need to sound too excited" The red head said sarcastically.**

****

* * *

  
Ron persuaded James not to tell Hermione what he knew and definitely not tell anyone from the past. James was in no state to argue, his son was going to grow up not knowing his parents. No 15 year old should have to think about death, but for James it came as some kind of relief knowing that at least he had done the ultimate for his son, he protected him with his life. That wasn't the subject that was eating away at him; death was inevitable, life is always 100% fatal. What caused the true upset, the dull ache in his chest, were the results of a late night forage underneath the invisibility cloak. Desperate to find out more information on the subject James returned to the library alone and started to read the thickest book on the subject of Voldemort's downfall he could find. Its pure size must have scared most people off for its cover was covered in a rather thick layer of dust. This rather detailed account of the events of 1982 provided James with the worst paragraph he ever had to read in his life.  
  
_The confideus charm was placed on the Potter's residence and a secret keeper appointed, the chosen keeper was James Potters' school friend Sirius Black. Black betrayed the Potters and by alerting you-know-who to their hiding place at Godric's Hollow, Lancashire had caused their deaths, The day after the attack (1st Nov 1982) another of James Potters school friends, Peter Pettigrew, had been aware of the betrayal and sought Black, who killed him along with 13 muggles. The largest part of Pettigrew to be found was his finger; he was awarded the Order of Merlin (first class) after his murder. The Ministry of Magic caught Black at the scene and he was sentenced to life imprisonment at Azkaban prison._  
  
With all this going through his head James was walking around in some kind of trance, totally unaware of his surroundings or Ron trying to get further reassurances out of him that he would not tell anyone what he had found out; past, present or future. James eventually collapsed on a chair in the great hall and blacked out. Harry, after a quick glance round, made eye contact with his best friend. "I'm back," he said simply. Ron looked at Harry and took him to one side, "We need to talk".

* * *

**James found himself sitting in the Gryffindor common room with Lily Evans, he guessed he was back in his own time, but this time the swap had occurred without the sickness and dizziness usually accompanied with delayed concussion. To James it could be likened to changing a TV channel on a muggle set (maybe there was a chance of him passing Muggle Studies after all). He looked at Lily; within 5 years they would be married with a kid and within 6 both be dead thanks to the actions of his supposed best friend. That kind of image could seriously screw with your mind, maybe knowing the future was a curse and dropping divination was a wise thing to do after all. He diverted his attention from his future wife and looked down at the piece of paper in front of him, it was covered in awkward yet neat handwriting he presumed to be Harry's. "Describe the various forms of Muggle money in the UK", it struck him just how much Harry knew on the subject. Then it dawned on him, if Harry didn't live with his parents' maybe he had been brought up with muggles.  
  
"Potter, what's up, you've stopped writing". James looked straight into her eyes, and Lily saw a sadness and panic in his deep hazel eyes she'd never seen before.  
  
"If I told you, you would think I'm either mad or twisted." He looked back at his parchment and started writing, noticing the hand was totally different and unless he wanted to get done for plagiarism he would have to rewrite it all.  
  
"Look Potter, first you stare at me like I'm a ghost and then you start blanking me. What's going on?" Lily was getting angry.  
  
James started preparing the ground, if he knew how she felt about certain aspects of time travel maybe there would be a possibility of being able to tell her at least part of the story. "Do you believe in time travel?"  
  
James looked at her hopefully; Lily just turned back to her parchment and said, "No, it's rubbish." He decided to leave it at that and start writing more on muggle money.**

****

**

* * *

**

  
"You did what?" Harry couldn't believe it, his dad had found out, how the hell was he going to cope with the knowledge. He knew about his mum and their deaths and Voldemort. The only comfort Harry had was that he didn't know about Sirius and Wormtail or what he had done through his years at high school. At least his dad thought that Voldemort was dead and buried.  
  
Harry looked at Ron, "What did you say, how did you break it to him?"  
  
Ron returned the gaze, yet there was something about it which suggested he was ashamed of whichever way he had tackled the situation "I didn't know how to cope, so I did what I thought Hermione would have done and took him to the library to read a book on it."  
  
"What! Didn't it cross your mind the book might go into a little more detail than the fact he died on the night Voldemort tried to kill me?" Ron looked confused; Harry decided to put him out of his misery, "Sirius, you twit".  
  
Ron paled, "I'm sure it wouldn't have, when you found out in the Three Broomsticks didn't the professors say the secret keeper part wasn't well known?" Harry took comfort in this, hopefully his initial conclusion had been correct all along. "I suppose so, I wonder how he's taking it"  
  
"He did seem a little out of it this morning, I just put it down to shock Seriously though, last night he looked like he was glad he was dead. Once he realised something was up he was scared that he was a bad dad and that's why there where no photos of him in your photo album. " Harry smiled at this, he knew he shouldn't but his dad cared, even his 15 year old self who had not actually got a son yet wanted to protect him.  
  
Ron interrupted the moment, "You won't tell Hermione will you? She scares me when she's angry and for this she would pull out my rib cage and use it as a hat". Harry couldn't help but laugh.  
  
"Your secret is safe with me"

* * *

**The essay was finished, 5 rolls of parchment on varying types of muggle money. James felt inferior, Lily was muggle born so could write in depth on the subject and Harry obviously had some experience of the muggle world so contributed a fair bit, James' knowledge on the other hand ceased at knowing muggle money had the queen on one side but couldn't remember if it was Elizabeth II or Victoria on it. Lily didn't know about the switches yet had spotted the obvious change in the boy in front of her. His seemingly everyday knowledge of muggle money disappeared, replaced by struggling to get ideas to write. It was almost as if it was a different person. Lily approached the subject  
  
"Are you OK? You seem withdrawn" Lily couldn't believe she was being civil to the stuck up shit she knew. Lily had been through these feelings herself, this is when you have found out someone had died, it would also figure out the random question about time travel before she so awkwardly avoided.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine, just got something on my mind" James mumbled, despite his assurances to Ron if he had got his hands on Sirius he couldn't say how he'd react. He knew he should do nothing, Sirius hadn't betrayed him yet and if the betrayal doesn't happen then Voldemort would never fall from power. On the other hand he was the reason his son was an orphan, the reason why him and his future wife were dead. James broke out of this thought and decided to go up to the dorms, with a bit of luck it might still be a full moon, that way he would have the dorm to himself and would not have to worry about pummelling the crap out of Sirius. "Anyways I'm going to get off now, laters" With that James picked up his parchment and left up to the boys dormitories leaving Lily alone.  
  
Lily sat by the fire thinking about James. Something had upset him and she didn't know what. Gathering up her stuff she realised one essay there that didn't belong to her, it was the essay on transportation. Picking it up she noticed a note attached to the front, maybe it was spending too long with her sister, Petunia, that had done it but Lily was curious. She read the note and was shocked by what she saw, the note was written in the same handwriting James was using at the beginning of the night, not the scruffy one that replaced it. This note was odd, everything about it didn't add up, James was 15 how could he have a son who could write essays? And what did he mean when he was talking about 1997? Lily decided that she wanted answers and headed up to James dorm with the pretence of giving him the essay back. Knocking on the door before opening it Lily was surprised to see James all alone in his dorm, not surrounded by the self-christened Marauders who wear usually found tagging along with him or habiting this dorm. "I found this" She said, handing James the parchment,she decided on a direst tact, "Who's Harry?" James paled, she knew something but he didn't know how much. "Tell me, why does he call you dad". James couldn't care anymore. Did it matter if one girl thought he was mad? Maybe he should go the whole hog and tell her that Harry was her kid. James shook that idea from his head; that would just be plain cruel.  
  
"Sit down Lily, I'll tell you but it's up to you weather you believe me or not". James said as Lily just nodded. He recited the story of him and his son from the future randomly swapping timelines, about how Harry didn't know his parents after they both were murdered when he was a baby. He decided to abstain from telling Lily she was his mother and definitely about Sirius. That would hurt too much to say, that would be admitting it and James quite liked the numb feeling at the moment. Lily just stood there, shocked.  
  
James had adopted a tone of voice like he had just woken up, a very quiet mumble with no passion or conviction behind it. It sounded as if he was in a trance just spouting out information; James found it easier to recite if he didn't think about it, "I know you don't believe me, but it's the truth. Every now and then Harry and me will just swap places. You can tell, he has green eyes and a scar. He was the one who started the essay on money, then we just swapped, just as if you changed channel on one of those felltissions."  
  
"Televisions" Lily corrected automatically. This was swimming through her mind, it was impossible but at the same time something definitely changed in James. What he was proposing was just plain crazy, she looked at him with pity in her gaze; whatever had gone on in the past few days had seriously screwed with his mind. "I think you should take some time off school and relax, I don't know what's happened but it isn't doing you any good. I'll keep this between you and me but promise me you'll talk to someone about whatever has happened. Something has obviously affected you because you know as well as I that what you have just said makes no sense".  
  
James incoherently mumbled something under his breath; Lily took this as acceptance of her terms. "OK then, I'm going to get off. Night" Lily vacated the room, leaving James alone once again. **


	8. Shifting the Goalposts

At breakfast in the great hall Ron and Harry were soon joined by Hermione, the boys where piling pancakes onto their plates and covering them in maple syrup. "Hi Hermione" Harry said, looking up so she could see his eyes, the key give away between father and son.  
  
"Harry, you're back. You OK?" she asked with the air of someone commenting on the weather. Rather ironically this had become an everyday occurrence and the group where starting to view it as if Harry was just commuting to a different place. Maybe it was constantly being in a magical environment but novelty soon wore off.  
  
Harry smiled "I met my mum".  
  
"What's she like?" Hermione replied automatically. From the look Ron gave her it was obvious he though she had gone mad. Harry couldn't blame Ron really, but he was totally relaxed about the idea. Lily was not his mum as such, she still had a lot of growing up to do until that happened, but now he had physical proof she existed and not just a few photos and stories.  
  
"I don't know, she seemed alright, she hates my dad though but she seemed nice enough. She's almost as clever as you Hermione. My dad takes Muggle Studies and we had to do an essay together. It was so easy." Harry was smiling to himself. Nothing could put a downer on today.  
  
Hermione looked up to top table "Well look whose back" She said, gesturing to Dumbledore sitting down next to McGonagol.  
  
"Excellent" Harry said, his good mood cemented further. It wasn't that going back bothered him, but if a change over happened when he was on a broom or when Malfoy was about to land a particularly nasty curse on him the results could be unpleasant. If Voldemort found out about this whole swap thing he could use it to his advantage, he could kill James in Harry's time therefore stopping his first downfall. It was better if it finished or something truly hideous could happen, like if his mum and dad finally fall for each other. That would be too cringe-worthy for Harry.  
  
As soon as they saw Dumbledore leave the table the trio ran after him, they had waited for over 20 minutes and were almost certainly late for Divination (Arithmancy for Hermione).  
  
Hermione reached Dumbledore first and came out with a garbled explanation. "Sir, Harry's having some, erm, problems, Snape made him drink a potion and since then he keeps swapping places with his dad".  
  
Dumbledore looked slightly amused by this "Well that is a problem, I don't know how it could have happened but I will be sure to look into it. Remember what the time turner taught you though, don't mess with time too much."  
  
"We won't" Harry said, not wanting to tell Dumbledore about Ron's confession, especially when Hermione was present.  
  
"Well I can see there being little problem, I will see what I can find out to rectify the situation" Dumbledore then left, leaving the three teens shocked at his relaxed attitude to the whole event, the mad old headmaster always had a reason for the way he acted but judging by her confused expression not even Hermione could work this one out.  
  
"Well, that went well enough. He was so laid back about it he was horizontal" said Ron.  
  
"Maybe he remembered it happening when he was younger, so that's why he wasn't concerned. I can't deny I was surprised with his response though" Hermione muttered, obviously still in thought.  
  
"Suppose so, but he'll know what he's doing. I think." Said Harry; secretly glad he might have the chance to talk to his mother some more while at the same time feeling guilty for what is in essence as selfish action.  
  
First lesson was divination; Harry couldn't be bothered about the subject one-way or the other. He knew as long as he could predict his death in a variety of interesting and unusual ways he would pass the year. The room was stiflingly hot; despite the summer weather finally kicking in Professor Trelawny still had the windows shut and fire blazing, quite possibly to add to the atmosphere of the room. Harry was quite tempted to fall asleep as he stared blankly into the crystal ball on his desk. It had been a week since the potion incident and now Harry had spent 3 days in the past and 4 in the present, luckily the curriculum hadn't changed too much so lessons were easy enough to keep up with and Muggle studies in 1979 was an absolute whiz, even if the teacher appeared to have taught Snape everything he knows.  
  
"Harry mate, do you mind if this week I say you are to be speared to death by a rogue broomstick?" Ron looked almost apologetic, Harry had had his fair share of life-and-death experiences and it seemed snidey making up more just to pass a subject. Harry didn't care; he found the whole situation laughable.  
  
Harry smiled at his friend "It has to be done, I think I'll predict myself getting run over by a combine harvester while trying to save you Chuddley Cannons cap"  
  
"What's a combine harvester?" Ron asked. Typical pure blood, not got a clue about muggle life yet presumes everyone knows about the wizarding world.  
  
"Something with almost as many sharp bits as one of Hagrid's pets and of a similar size" The pair started laughing, steadily getting louder as they rallied sarcastic comments from one another until Harry finally blanked out.

* * *

**James woke in the morning to see the beds of the other marauders occupied; it must have been the full moon he thought to himself. Even though time passed at the exactly the same rate in both times the slight difference in the days of the week was confusing enough without having to bother about the lunar calendar. James got changed and picked up his books ready to go down for breakfast but he couldn't resist the temptation. He walked over to Sirius' bed and looked at the person in it, James was overcome with rage. He tried to steady his breathing, he wouldn't do anything, and he was strong enough to manage this. The marauders traditionally missed the first lesson after a transformation, James had a first lesson, all he had to do was go to it then he wouldn't be able to harm Sirius because he would be nowhere near him.  
  
As if the fates where against him Sirius chose that moment to wake up "And when did your delightful sprog vacate this space-time continuum?" he mumbled staring directly at James. That pushed James over the edge. A simple phrase, good hearted and well-meaning in Sirius' own sarcastic way was too much. James didn't even bother to use a wand, all he wanted was to hurt Sirius and hurt him bad. He jumped on the bed, kneeling down with his legs either side of Sirius' body. James laid into his ex-best friend hitting him repeatedly around the head and trying to rip out his hair.  
  
The look of panic on Sirius' face quickly subsided as he tried to grab James' wrists. Eventually he succeeded, grateful for the beater practise giving him strength and half decent reflexes. Rolling over so he was able to restrain James he asked in a state of forced calm "And what the hell was that for?"  
  
Somehow the rest of the boys in the dorm had slept through this. Maybe it was because they were shattered, maybe it was because they were used to loud noises throughout the night due to high spirits or maybe they'd been cleaver and put silencing charms around their beds to ensure their limited sleep was utilised to the maximum possible effect. Either way it left the dark haired boys the only people awake in the dorm.  
  
By this point James had stopped struggling, he was crying, "We trusted you, it's all your fault". Sirius didn't know what was happening but slowly let go of James' wrists.  
  
"What did I do?" Sirius asked, although he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer. James was fine with him before his expedition so it must be something in the future, something he hadn't even done yet. Sirius thought it through, if it was something in the future how come Harry had been all right with him, the only person he showed any coolness towards was Peter, and even then Harry just ignored the boy.  
  
Sirius climbed off his bed. James was still there; making no movements, just weeping, "You ruined my sons life", with this James suddenly got up and walked to the door. Fresh anger in his voice, his movements violent, "You are not worth it, but don't you ever come near me or Harry again, OK?" He vacated the room, slamming the door behind him and leaving one very shell shocked Sirius with his thoughts.  
  
James headed off to his next lesson fuming, but at least controlled now. He spoke to no one and just walked in a straight line to the lesson. Muggle studies, yet again James' least favourite subject came to haunt him. Not only was it his worst subject but in addition it was taught rather ironically by the head of Slytherin house. James figured that this is just so he could punish the muggle-borns who took it for an easy OWL, or at least to smirk at the "primitiveness" of some of their magical-substitutes. Each lesson nearly every house lost points, it must have killed Professor Noir that there were no Slytherins to award points to. Slytherins didn't bother wasting their time with this subject; they tried to avoid muggles at all costs. James stared at diagrams of how to lift heavy boxes and how to work an oven wondering when he would ever need this knowledge in his life. Lily was sitting next to him, Noir always found it highly amusing to couple people with their opposites, if only to knock points off for their frequent arguments.  
  
Halfway through an answer on "Name the terrestrial TV channels" the switch occurred, yet again no sickness or dizziness attached, just a clean swap. As soon as Harry looked round the class he knew what had happened and instantly went to flatten his fringe to disguise his scar. He finished writing an answer, looking at the awkward change of handwriting; he would have to redo the whole piece of work unless he wanted to be accused of getting someone else to write it for him. Harry looked round the class and was shocked to see himself sitting next to his mother, they must be regular pre-chosen partners, there's no other excuse for them sitting next to each other.  
  
Lily looked over at James' work; she liked to see he was struggling. He was so up his own arse most of the time watching him as he acknowledged he had a fault was entertaining. It was then she realised something, the handwriting change on question 9. It was the same handwriting as on the note, maybe that meant that James was actually telling the truth for once in his life. She looked at James, it was same James from what she could see, same build, skin tone, messy hair, even the glasses. She sighed, she was stupid for thinking anything about him being someone else. She looked closer and at that moment James head turned and she stared right into a pair of emerald green eyes, James' were hazel, she'd seen them that night by the fire.  
  
"Harry?" Lily stumbled. The boy paled in front of her, looking shocked.  
  
"How did you know?" he said, he hoped his father hadn't told his mother everything. It was bad enough that one of them new they were going to die, let alone both.  
  
"James told me" Lily replied. Harry's heart sunk, she knew, she must do. Why couldn't he keep his gob shut, but Harry didn't have too much time to brood as his thoughts where interrupted by the 6-foot professor at the front of the class, pale skinned and fair-haired he looked angry.  
  
"Potter, I know from your consistently poor marks that the Muggle theory of lightening formation is beyond you, but as you are conversing with Miss Evans I suppose you have a valid theory on the subject. Seeing you are so cocky maybe you would like to share your explanation with the class. Get down here now". Harry walked to the front of the class and stood next to the board. Harry was obviously expected to launch straight into it, for the first time she was glad of his Muggle primary school education. He launched into the theory of oppositely attracted particles and conduction of electricity. He finished and he knew he was right; unfortunately 10 points were still taken from Gryffindor for "Potter's tendency to be a show off". Harry sulked back to his seat and sat in silence until the end of the class, counting the seconds until the lesson would be finished.  
  
He was the first to leave the class but Lily quickly caught up with him. "Harry, slow down." Lily grabbed his bag and pulled him round so she looked directly into Harry's eyes; if she didn't hate James so much she could swear there was a possibility of Harry being her kid. "Are you OK?"  
  
Harry pulled his mother into an old classroom the marauder's had informed him had been empty since a particularly nasty explosion made it spontaneously vibrate during lessons. "How much did he tell you?"  
  
Lily looked at the pleading look on his face. "That you're his future son, but you don't know him because you're an orphan." Harry was grateful his dad hadn't said anything to Lily about his mum. "So, how did you get here?" she asked. Harry was shocked by the concern in her voice, she hated James surely she should hate him too.  
  
"I was in potions, the professor hated my dad at school so he hates me now he's dead. I screwed up a potion but he made me drink it anyways and every since we swap places about once every other day. I'll come back here and he'll be in 1997 with my 2 best friends." This was said so matter-of-factly it was as if this wasn't an unusual situation for the child to be in. Lily looked back to her future son  
  
"Well, you know where I am if you need me" That genuine concern he had sensed before came through in her voice again.  
  
Harry smiled, "So you think I'm different to my dad?" he said with a slight smirk on his face.  
  
"Hell yeah, he can't get his head through the bloody door" cracking a brilliant smile at the same time. Harry couldn't help but laugh.  
**  
££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££Cheers for the reviews y'all, I really appreciate it. This chapter was ready about 2 weeks back but someone mentioned about finding out about Sirius and I couldn't help myself so I've been doing a little bit of a rewrite.  
  
Also this computer is being a little sadist crashing if you so much as breath on it wrong, my lappy needs to get fixed and it needs to get fixed soon. That's why I can't say about individual peoples reviews because AOL has yet again chosen an unfortunate time to crash.  
  
Anyways, enough with the rant. To the person who said about Trelawny not being a professor in the 70s I know that, but Dumbledore seemed to be less than impressed about the subject when he went to interview Cybil so I'm writing the characters as if they have been cast in the same mould if only to play on family similarities (god, you can tell I'm a bloody scientist can't you, nature and nurture and all that crap)  
  
Please keep reviewing, it's a rare occasion I get email. :-)  
  
Hugs and Hogs  
  
Kimmiijay Kotchanski 


	9. Required Dreams

James found himself suddenly in divination, sat opposite Ron looking into a crystal ball "Harry, maybe we could say you died in a freak accident with a pack of cornflakes?" Ron looked up and saw James staring up at him. Over the years Ron had probably gained half a foot on Harry and James was exactly the same build as his son.  
  
"Oh, hi there. If you haven't guessed we are in divination, make up ways Harry will die we will get top marks. OK?" James smiled, he was getting a distinct feeling of deja-vu.  
  
"Sure, I dropped Divination because I found that bit depressing, must be hereditary" James suppressed a laugh, the woman at the front of the class was not the small frail witch with long straight grey hair he was used to. He couldn't work out if her Hippy-esque looks were an improvement on this or not. Professor Rhodes wore all black as opposed to this woman's flowing coloured fabrics. It was obvious that both individuals where trying to look the part. Despite their physical appearance differing when it came to teaching they were cast from the same mould.  
  
"Indeed, Hermione dropped it too, said it was a waste of time. Mind you she was actually time travelling in order to fit in all her classes".  
  
"So, out of the three 2 of you have been time travellers, you ever done it?" It was Ron's turn to hold back a giggle.  
  
"Never, got close once but that's a different story". Secretly Ron had always regretted missing out on the latter part of the adventure at the end of third year, he was locked up in the Hospital wing with a broken leg so couldn't try it. James was intrigued but Ron stood firm, he told him about 1981, he definitely weren't going to start telling him off what had gone on when the three of them were at Hogworts.  
  
"Ron, something's been bothering me. If me and Lily are dead who does Harry live with?" This had been beating James up, he guessed it was some muggles because Harry had single handedly dragged James' year average Muggle Studies up to an E. "He lives with Lily's sister, husband and kid but he stays here over most holidays and over summer he comes over to ours a lot."  
  
"That figures, Lily's a muggle born and I take it they are the only family left. Does he like it?" James asked. Ron wouldn't lie so he said nothing. Thankfully the noise and scuffling which marked the end of the lesson interrupted the conversation and Ron took less than 10 seconds to leave the room.  
  
"Let's go, Hermione is meeting us in the Room of Requirement" Ron said. To James this sounded interesting...

* * *

**Lily and Harry stayed in the deserted classroom for ages, talking about everything they could think about without screwing life up. Harry talked about the quidditch and his friends at Hogworts. He showed his mum a picture of the trio he kept in his pocket, she noticed immediately that Ron was a Weasley from the ginger hair and freckles, also Ron was almost as lanky as his dad was at his age. Arthur was the prefect when she first started, and had been the one to show her were the common room was on the first night. Harry found it strange to think of every one as his age, especially people who have always had authority over him like Mr Weasley and Professor Lupin. Lily told Harry of her family (her sister, parents and great-aunt), her primary school (Holcombe Brook County Primary School) and friends she missed when she was at Hogworts (Nicola, Kirsten and their assorted randomness).  
  
"You look so much like James it's scary you know. When we first did that essay I didn't even notice it weren't him".  
  
Harry smiled he was almost in a daydream, that place which is better than life. "Yeah, that's what everyone says, heard it so many times 'You look just like your dad but you've got your mother's eyes'".  
  
"So who is your mum?" Lily was getting curious now; right from that first muggle studies she had picked up on the eye colour and now, weather or not is was intentional, Harry had given yet another hint. That's before you even consider that Harry was being civil to her or that she felt protective of him. Harry just smiled  
  
"I can't tell you, you know that she dies young and no one should have to know that. James only found out because he went through my stuff. Ron said it was cute, he was worried about me not having photos of him in case he was a bad dad but it didn't bother him as much when he found out he was dead." Lily was amazed, James Potter acting mature? Alarming.  
  
"It's odd, I've never spoken to him and yet here we are living each others life, mines so different from his." **

* * *

James followed Ron as he paced the corridor, walking up and down by the tapestry of Gregory the Smarmy occasionally muttering to himself "we need a room to meet Hermione in". James thought he had finally gone loopy, but maybe that was a little rich from a guy currently masquerading as his teenage son. On the third time of walking back along the corridor a door formed from the seemingly solid wall in inside was Hermione. The room was small with 2 battered sofas in it and a small table littered with chocolate frogs and butterbeer.  
  
"Hi guys, you OK?" she asked, before taking a swig from a butterbeer bottle. Ron threw his bag on the floor and slumped down on the sofa at an angle almost on the horizontal, James took his lead from him.  
  
"He's back" Ron nodded his head towards James who gave a feeble wave.  
  
"Hi". Hermione just smiled back, she missed Harry when he was away, he was quieter than James and less cocky. The trio settled down for what was going to be another bland night, Hermione with her homework outstretched on her lap while James and Ron talked quidditch and munched Chocolate Frogs. It wasn't long until the group had tea and went back to their dorms. All this switching times knackered James and as a result he was finding himself struggling to stay awake most of the time. As soon as he finished a divination essay for Harry, in which he was decapitated by a particularly violent door, James retired to bed. It was only 9 o clock but with nothing else to do and the increasingly large bags forming underneath his eyes he found sleep was possibly the best option.

* * *

**Harry just looked at his mother trying to digest each feature, her slightly wavy red shoulder length hair framing her face and her pale complexion but most startling of all her vividly green eyes just like his own. He wondered if Lily would ever make the link, maybe if her and James...no when... her and James stop detesting each other she would realise who Harry was. Lily saw Harry's eyes were wet, almost like he was forcing himself not to cry. Harry must have picked up on this for he suddenly changed the subject.  
  
"Hey, Lily. I want to show you something." Harry took his mother by her wrist and led her to the third floor corridor where he knew the room of requirement would form. "Think of a room with whatever you want in it. No matter what it is". Lily thought this was a weird question but did so anyway, she couldn't help but trust this impostor.  
  
She pictured her bedroom in Surrey, its slightly pink walls and her white dressing table in the corner. "Got that image in your head, keep thinking about it and follow me". Harry walked backwards and forwards along the corridor and on the third time a door formed. "Go look inside".  
  
Lily was amazed, an exact replica of her room was before her, right down to the Youth Dew perfume on her dresser and the small ballerina teddy on the middle of her immaculately made bed. "How did you know?" she asked Harry.  
  
"I didn't, it's called the room of requirement if you just think about what you want and walk past it three times it takes the form of what you want. I just thought I'd share it with you, it comes in handy" Lily was now the one fighting back the tears,  
  
"Thank you" she whispered walking into the room and wandering around. Harry waited outside "Aren't you coming in?"  
  
"Only if you want us in there." Harry looked apprehensive at the door, he was so different to James, and by this point James would be trying to seduce her. "Come in you silly personage" Lily smiled and invited Harry to sit on her bed.  
  
"It feels like forever since I was last here". The couple sat on the bed and talked about anything and everything, well Harry had to keep stopping himself from telling his mother too much. Eventually Lily fell asleep, her head on Harry's shoulder. Harry gently moved her onto her bed, taking care not to disturb her slumber and covered her with the duvet. Harry went over to the wall and fell asleep on the floor, leaning against the wall. He wanted to stay with his mother for as long as was possible.  
  
Harry dreamt about his mum, what it would be like if she had lived, if he had at least one parent to bring him up, a life without the lies or the Dursley's. Eventually his mind wandered  
**  
_Harry was in a dark room; only a small amount of light came in through a small crack in the curtains. But it appeared to be a large room, the kind you get in Victorian town houses. There was a large fireplace in on the wall adjacent to the obscured window. The room was sparse and the subtle smell of dusty made Harry want to sneeze. The only furniture was a large leather chair at one side of the room in which sat a pale man with slit like nostrils and red eyes. The man was covered head to toe in a long dark cloak.  
  
"Have you got it Wormtail?" A raspy snake like voice came out of the cloaked man's mouth. Voldemort's mouth Out of the shadows came a small rat like person, silver hand glinting in the darkness.  
  
"Yes master, I have it." He passed a small gold chain to Voldemort  
  
"Potter has been troublesome, my life would be better without him. 13 years without a body due to that troublesome boy. Break the cycle though, no parents no child"_  
  
**Harry woke up, screaming in pain rubbing his hand vigorously along his scar hoping for the pain to subside, it wasn't working. He felt an arm being put around him. "Harry, are you OK? It was just a nightmare" Lily pulled him into an upright position.  
  
"It was more than that, it's happened before. If only this bloody thing would stop burning I could think straight" Harry tried unsuccessfully to hide the frustration in his voice, he couldn't even open his eyes yet the pain was that intense.  
  
"What's up?" Lily sounded concerned, he couldn't stay angry with her.  
  
He lifted his fringe up, "You see that scar? That's all I got when Voldemort tried to kill me with aveda kedevra, it didn't work and drove him from his body, that's why I didn't want to tell anyone about my parents because they died to save me, and if they didn't Voldemort would have got stronger. It means I'm famous in my time but I hate it. It's not nice having people whisper behind your back as you walk down corridors. Two years ago a journalist saw this happen and did her best to make me seem emotionally unstable and the Daily Prophet carried on their work last year ".  
  
Lily looked shocked, Harry was different from James, James would love the attention but Harry would rather do without. Lily gave Harry a hug, despite him being the same age and probably a damn site more mature than her she had this urge to look over him like a little brother. Harry smiled as he hugged his mother for the first time, feeling her warmth as he nuzzled his head into her shoulder.  
  
"When Voldemort left me my scar it gave us a connection, I get visions of what he's up to and at this moment he's trying to kill my parents so I wasn't born. I think he has a time turner. There was a prophecy made, either I kill him or he kills me" Harry risked opening his eyes; the scar wasn't burning anymore, just a dull ache in his head. "The scar pains hurt like crazy, I get them whenever Voldemort is feeling a strong emotion or near me. It's going now though". He pulled himself up and looked at his mother. "I'm going to have to tell this Dumbledore what's going on"**

****

**

* * *

**  
James Potter woke up, sitting bolt upright in his bed. Squinting his eyes close together trying to get rid of the burning pain on his forehead. That dream had been so real, but what would Wormtail be doing with someone who wanted him dead? James heard Ron's voice,  
  
"Harry, you OK? I think we had better get to Dumbledore." This surprised James, Ron was treating this like it had happened before.  
  
"It isn't Harry, it's James. I just had a nightmare and my foreheads killing me." James opened his eyes and stared at Ron who looked shocked.  
  
"You acted just like Harry did when he has a vision, you weren't dreaming about you-know-who were you?" James face fell, he had just had a dream about Harry's parents being killed, James and Lily being killed and in effect removing Harry from existence.  
  
"This is a common thing?" Ron nodded,  
  
"Dumbledore will tell you, Dumbledore knows everything." He didn't sound too convinced at this statement.

* * *

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

* * *

Hi all (  
  
Welcome to the latest instalment of my little story. The storyline is about to get a little bit of a twist about in a few paragraphs. Hope you like it.  
  
I've gone and got myself a job so in an attempt to counteract the boredom of working in a chemist's in Ramsbottom (I wanted to work in a casualty department, oh well) I have taken to daydreaming and asking stupid questions. One would appreciate answers or sarcastic retorts  
  
Does the Hogwort's Express stop at other stations or would northerners like myself have to spend £70 and 5 hours on a train to get to London, just to come straight back up? I like the idea of some witch on the train going "This train is for Hogsmeade, calling at London King's Cross, Cambridge, Nottingham, Birmingham New Street, Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester Oxford Road (it's in the rules, every train going through Manc has to stop at at least 2 stations...shit knows why though.), Leeds, Newcastle, Glasgow and Hogsmeade.  
  
Where is Godric's Hollow, unless it's abroad why would you fly over Bristol? OK, I guess maybe it's in South Wales at a push, but I REALLY don't want to admit that because that would involve giving Gareth and his "Wales has redeeming features" campaign credibility. Do you recon they were just following the M4 (and my laughable stance that James was actually a Lancastrian can still have hope). After all I can't be the only person to find every journey through the UK incorporates the M4, I live over 200 miles from it and yet we seem to go down it far too much.  
  
Why does Robbie Coltrane work as Hagrid in the films? FFS I learnt what sex was from Fitz in Cracker. Yet there he is in a kids movie and it works....alarming  
  
This is a general rant. What is with the word bangs? Repeat after me, fringe. See? It sounds a lot better than bangs doesn't it? Is this just another attempt to erode our language further and give miserable sods (like me) and English teachers (like Mr Brooke) the opportunity to crib about something? It must stop, along with the disappearing us (e.g. neighbour, honour, mum) 


	10. Garbled Explanations

**Lily and Harry rushed to the stone gargoyle that marked the entrance to Dumbledore's office. "It's always a sweet in my time, want to start guessing?" Harry explained before starting shouting out sweets  
  
"Sugar quill, chocolate frog, mars bar, sherbet lemons, cough candy" Lily started joining in.  
  
"Coltsford rock"  
  
"Pumpkin pasties"  
  
"Mint humbug"  
  
"Aniseed balls" The gargoyle started to ascended like an old fashioned escalator.  
  
"Cheers for coming with me" Harry smiled at the red head beside him, he really was grateful for the support.  
  
"Well, Mr Potter and Ms Evans, what brings you here at this time?" Dumbledore asked. The layout was exactly the same as ever; even Dumbledore looked the same, his long white beard tucked into his belt and blue eyes twinkling behind his half moon spectacles.  
  
It mustn't be too late Harry thought to himself, otherwise he wouldn't be in his office or at least he would be changed for bed. Harry started thinking about silly little things like where does Dumbledore live, has he got a wife or kids? As much as he would have hated to admit it at the end of last year Harry and Dumbledore had a lot in common, both were pitted against dark wizards. Harry had defeated Gindleward, Harry hoped he could do the same with Voldemort. With that thought Harry snapped back to reality and focused at the case in hand.  
  
"Do you know who I am?" Harry asked, Dumbledore knew more or less everything which went on in the castle, he wouldn't have been surprised if the old professor had known all along that James and Harry where having time travel difficulties.  
  
"Of course I do James, I see you in here enough." Dumbledore suppressed a smile, Potter and Black were troublemakers but their pranks were humorous, that he could not deny.  
  
"Professor, I am not James Potter, I know this sounds odd but I'm his son. I had to take a potion but it wasn't right and since then me and my dad keep swapping time lines, the Dumbledore from my time told me to just enjoy it and he'd try and sort it out but I've just had a vision and I know Voldemort is trying to kill my parents before I can be born".  
  
Harry looked at Dumbledore; he seemed to be distinctly unimpressed. "Nice try Mr Potter, but I am not going to fall for that, I am surprised you roped Ms Evans in on your prank though." Harry could have screamed, he had to prove to Dumbledore he wasn't a liar.  
  
"Please sir, believe me. I am Harry Potter and I am not even born until 1981, but Voldemort has been after me since I was born; he tried to kill me with aveda kedevra but it rebounded on him and his body was destroyed; all I got was this scar. I know when he's near and sometimes I get dreams of what he's up to, my scar hurts like crazy when it happens. You have to believe me, please, he wants to kill my parents so I'll never be born and he won't be killed." Dumbledore looked shocked at this, Harry couldn't read was he disgusted with a bad taste prank or had he accepted Harry's rather far-fetched story?  
  
"Sir, please, give me verituserum or anything, I am telling the truth and I would appreciate some help to make sure my parents don't die. I know Voldemort, he'll probably attack wherever my parents are, I doubt very much if even Hogworts is safe from him these days" Eventually Dumbledore gave a nod which exonerated Harry.  
  
"If James is your father who is your mother?" Dumbledore asked.  
  
"Can I tell you in private? I don't think its fair Lily should know a future couple" Harry looked at Lily; far from looking hurt she actually looked relieved.  
  
"Ah, a wise move trying to limit damage to the timelines, if you just step over here" Dumbledore walked to the window away from where his mother was standing.  
  
"It's Lily, sir" Dumbledore chuckled.  
  
"Lily and James, what an odd combination. Ok then, I will ensure they are kept safe". **

**Harry smiled "Thanks sir".**

**

* * *

**  
The walk to the headmaster's office came automatically to James, he had done it so many times in the aftermath of a prank. He still had a dull ache in his head that made him feel distinctly queasy. Ron started to explain the situation to James. "You know how I said that Harry got his scar when the killing curse failed?" James started to nod but that made the ache get worse so he promptly stopped "Yeah, what's that got to do with anything" James was in pain; he couldn't be bothered with long-winded explanations. "Well it created a bond between Harry and you-know-who, he gets visions of what he's up to and when he's near he gets scar pains. That's why I thought you had swapped again, you were rubbing the exact position of Harry's scar." James was taken aback; his son had connections with the world's most evil wizard. Ok, it wasn't his fault but James couldn't help but wonder how deep the connection went. With all these thoughts in his head it seemed like absolutely no time until he was at the gargoyle and the boys automatically started shouting out passwords, two pure bloods didn't quite have the variety of sweets the muggle borns and half bloods had; but they got there eventually.  
  
"Every flavour beans",  
  
"Sherbet lemons",  
  
"Chocolate Frogs",  
  
"Liquorice wands", the gargoyle started moving upwards immediately.  
  
Ron burst through the doors and launched into the explanation "You know how Harry is having, erm, slight time difficulties? Well, they had another swap but James here had a vision, he even got what would be the scar pains". Dumbledore looked concerned, it had dawned on Ron he hadn't even asked James what it was about.  
  
"Mr Potter, if you would care to elaborate." Dumbledore diverted his piercing blue eyes to the elder Potter.  
  
"Just as Ron said, I had a dream about you-know-who. He said something about getting rid of Harry's parents, Peter were with him, he gave him some kind of necklace. I think he's going to try and kill me and Lily".  
  
Dumbledore just nodded, "I will monitor the situation, thank you. I recommend you try and sleep."  
  
James wondered how the hell he seriously expected that to happen. He wanted to know why Wormtail was in it, no one seemed surprised, was Peter really a death eater? His head was buzzing with questions. He turned to Ron and grabbed his shoulder, looking him straight in the eye he said, in a surprisingly calm voice,  
  
"I think you tell me everything now, let's go to the room of requirement". Ron nodded in resignation  
  
"I will do, on the catch Hermione comes too."

* * *

* * *

* * *

Heres a diddy chappy, hope you like :)

ViviBlack and Eric2, cheers for the consistent reviews.

Brownie points to Vivi for answering the questions (And as a verified Guider and sorta-Brownie leader I can give em out).


	11. The Truth Will Out

**Harry's mind was swirling with ideas as he left the headmaster's office. He was slightly alarmed at the professor's non-committal on the subject. He saw no evidence of plans being put into motion and this made him uneasy and formed one key question in his mind, should he tell Lily everything? On one hand she would find out she would die within a few years if he told her, but the way it was she didn't know what danger she was in. How was he supposed to protect someone who didn't know the danger?  
  
It dawned on him that this is exactly what Dumbledore had been doing since Harry was born; keeping information back and revealing it when it was needed. The question was when would the right time be? He decided he would think about it, talk about it with Ron and Hermione when he got back and most importantly tell Dumbledore of the vision he had the night before. It was then Harry decided what he would do, he would write a note to his Dad explaining everything, Sirius, Wormtail, the visions, everything. It would be his choice to read or not but one person in this time at least had a right to know they were in danger. The couple finally reached the portrait of the fat lady "hinkypoof" Lily mumbled as the picture swung forward revealing a hole to the common room.  
  
"Harry, are you going to be alright?" Harry just nodded; it wasn't him he was worried about.  
  
"I think I'm going to write another note to my dad. I take it that's how you found out about me in the first place?"  
  
Lily nodded. "Yeah, James left the essay on the table and I took it up to him. Well, I'm shattered, I'm going to go back to bed, if you want anything give us a shout" she gave Harry a reassuring hug and climbed the stairs to the girl's dormitories. After going to his own room and retrieving some parchment, ink and a quill from James' trunk Harry started to write possibly the hardest letter he had ever had to write.  
  
He curled up on a large red leather chair by the side of the fire, parchment balanced on his knee and ink on the arm. By the time he had finished the letter it was daylight, he had decided to do it in one go but that didn't make it any easier to right. The only reason he chose this method was so he wouldn't censor himself as much as if he was constantly re- writing it. Folding up the thick yellow parchment and casting a charm to stick it over, he wrote a disclaimer on the front  
  
James/Dad/Whatever, this letter contains everything. If you don't want to read all of it I understand but you MUST read the first couple of paragraphs. Harry.  
  
That would do, he went upstairs and opened his father's trunk looking for James' broom, and he knew flying would make him feel better. OK, it wasn't HIS Firebolt but at least it was flying. Rummaging through his trunk he realised it wasn't there so placed everything neatly back into the large wooden box and put the letter on top of it all, that would guarantee his father finding it. After failing to find the broom he resorted to looking under the bed, a Comet 260 was there, it would probably be one of the best of the time as it was still in used as the school broom 20 years on. Throwing on some old looking robes he made his way to the quidditch pitch and immediately started rising high and diving as low as he could manage without giving himself an injury. Climbing high up to 100ft and flying down as fast as he could, only pulling up when he could touch the wet grass below him. He must have been flying for hours until his god father coming down to the pitch "Oi, Harry, Come down!" Harry finished his last dive and walked over to Sirius, obviously he had been using the map because James and Harry would almost certainly be indistinguishable from that distance. "I need to ask you something". Harry had never seen Sirius like this, he was upset, he voice was cracking and he eyes were watery. For a second he recognised this boy as the same person who stayed with him at the end of the third task. "What did I do?"  
  
Harry looked at Sirius, confusion plastered across his face "Don't play dumb with me, James came back livid with me, tried to attack me, said it was all my fault. What have I done?"  
  
Realisation dawned on Harry; James had heard the published story and not the true one. "I can't tell you what it's about, but just remember it wasn't you, you are innocent and I'll make sure James knows it".  
  
Sirius looked unconvinced, "What do you mean, you can't tell me. If something's going to happen I want to know"  
  
"I told you, I can't. Too much rests on it, but trust me. You didn't do anything. Your my fecking godfather for crying out loud, you have helped me so much don't you dare go thinking you did anything wrong" Sirius looked shocked at this  
  
"You mean that Prongs named me your godfather? I guess that means we start talking again"  
  
Harry smiled "You did nothing wrong, just remember that"  
  
Sirius seemed to calm at these words and changed the subject, ""And what were you doing with Miss Lily Evans all last night?" Harry felt anger coming up inside of him, that bloody map.  
  
"We were talking, nothing else." Sirius raised an eyebrow,  
  
"Come on Harry, you dig her". The thought made Harry feel sick, that was his mother they were talking about.  
  
"Just drop it, alright" Harry was going to lose it soon, not out of anger but out of embarrassment.  
  
"Alright, alright, anyways we have had an idea", an evil grin crept across Sirius' face. "I think a certain Snivellus Snape needs a new image".  
**

* * *

The boys rushed to the Gryffindor common room to see Hermione already up, "Where've you two been?" She asked, a slightly annoyed tone to her voice.  
  
Ron stared at her in disbelief; she was taking prefect status way too seriously. "James got a vision and matching scar pains"  
  
Hermione paled. "How? He's not got the connection, he hasn't even got a scar".  
  
Ron just shrugged, "Don't know why but I recon we had better come clean on the full story"  
  
"Ok, but before we start let's find somewhere quieter so we won't be disturbed." Hermione suggested.  
  
"Already decided, us three are going to the room of requirement." It was the first phrase James said. Ron obviously shocked to the point of being struck mute that Hermione agreed so readily.  
  
The walk up to the room was a daze for James, he only noted the trio were performing their usual ritual to enter the room when the door appeared. When they finally entered the room they found it laid out like the snug of a few nights before, except with croissants and pumpkin juice replacing the sweets and butterbeer, they sat down apprehensively on the sofa and turned to James. "What do you want to know?"  
  
James was shocked, 'so much for not screwing up the time lines' he thought to himself. "I want to know everything" he said, quite simply.  
  
"We'll tell you as much as Harry would be comfortable with you knowing. If you want to know any more I suggest you leave him a note or something." James nodded; it was probably going to be the only way he would get any information out of them anyways.  
  
"OK, before Harry is born a prophecy is made stating the only person who can kill Voldemort will be born at the end of July to a couple who have 3 times defied Voldemort. When the prophecy was made it was partially overheard by a death eater so Voldemort decided to kill those matching the description. You go under the fidellous charm to protect yourself; basically the only way to find you would be for a chosen person to disclose your location. Sirius proposes a bluff so you choose Wormtail, who betrays you. Voldemort tries to kill all of you, but because lily died to save Harry aveda kedevra rebounds on Voldemort, who disappears"  
  
James looked sick; his eyes had glazed over "So, it wasn't Sirius. He didn't betray us"  
  
Ron looked straight at James, "Sirius would never, ever betray you. He's helped Harry through so much."  
  
"I hit him you know, between the last 2 switches I tried to beat seven bells out of him"  
  
Hermione looked at James, "You knew didn't you? How did you find out?" From the way Ron's complexion paled to a similar one to James' she didn't need the reply.  
  
"You twit, why did you tell him and if he found out by accident why didn't you tell him about Sirius. This is why you shouldn't have said something, what would have happened if he had killed Sirius? You could have ruined everything!" Hermione was off on a rant.  
  
Ron felt the need to defend himself, "I didn't know he knew that part."  
  
"So you knew he knew something! Why did you tell him"  
  
"He-"No one would ever here the end of this argument. James noticing that this could go on sometime decided to interrupt. "If it's all the same to you can we please finish the story before I go away with anymore half- truths?"  
  
Hermione took a deep breath; James was listening intently, still recovering from the initial shock. Harry or some other boy killing Voldemort? Sirius being innocent?  
  
Hermione restarted her monologue "Harry got left with a scar, you see not the whole prophecy was overheard, the next bit was something about Voldemort marking his equal. Meanwhile the day after you die Sirius goes looking for Peter, he corners him but Peter transforms and escapes after he frames Sirius, shouting he betrayed you before causing an explosion which kills 13 muggles. Sirius was sent to Azkaban for life without a trial."  
  
James couldn't control his anger anymore "But he didn't do that, he's out now isn't he? That bastard Wormtail."  
  
Ron came over to James "I know it's hard but you've not heard it all, you'll find out everything. Trust me." James sat in silence.  
  
Hermione continued "Harry is taken to live with his muggle relatives. On his 11th birthday Hagrid gives Harry his letter and tells him the truth. He starts Hogworts and meets us 2. That year a teacher tried to restore Voldemort to full strength using a stone hid in Hogworts. We did some tasks and Harry stalled Voldemort enough for Dumbledore to destroy the stone. Second year the chamber of secrets was opened by Voldermort's memory, Harry destroys the memory and kills a basilisk. Third year Sirius escapes from Azkaban, but everyone thinks he's out to kill Harry At the end of the year Peter, who had been hiding as Ron's pet rat, was forced to transform back into human form but he got away, Harry saves Sirius from the demetors. Fourth year Harry was picked as a contender for the triwizard tournament and eventually wins it. At the end of the year Voldemort rises by using Harry's own blood, removing any protection Lily's sacrifice had left in him, he also saw Cedric who was another contender die.  
  
"Fifth year was the worst though, refuse to admit Voldemort is back, so try and discredit Dumbledore and Harry. The DADA professor had a vendetta against Harry; he's almost expelled after she sent dementors after him and he used magic outside of school. Harry has visions of what Voldemort is doing, at the end of the year he tricks Harry and lures him into the Ministry of Magic to receive the prophecy. Voldemort comes back in front of everyone. Sirius dies in the ministry protecting him, and Harry blamed himself for it, probably still does underneath it all. This year everyone knows Voldemort is back, Harry is no longer seen as a mad man but the scar pains are more frequent than ever and he has to cope with the knowledge he's going to be a killer or a victim."  
  
James stared blankly at his son's best friends; he had been through so much, they all had. Why was all this piled upon the shoulder of a bunch of kids, people the same age as he is. How could they just take it in their stride? He couldn't say anything to them, it was too much.  
  
"James, stop looking like that, he'd hit you if he saw you. Harry manages and it's him who has to deal with it all." James looked at the teens  
  
"You've been there too, you kept saying you were there. How can you manage with it? How can you cope?"  
  
Ron Shrugged. "We have nothing compared to Harry, anyway You-know-who is not going to ruin our lives. He's done a good enough job so far but there is no point, it will happen and we will be there with Harry. He's always the one who ends up fighting him in the end". James just looked straight ahead, not actually looking but just letting ideas fall through his mind until he blacked out.

* * *

**Harry couldn't help but let a smile come to his lips "Revenge on Snape? I am in" He said simply. "What's the plan?"  
  
Sirius' face lit up. "See, like father like son. I bet he trained you well" Harry forced a smile and fake sounding laugh, which went unnoticed. "So, anyway, Mr Potter Junior, the idea is basically Snivellus needs to brighten up a little. We were proposing a slight change in hair colour to red, and maybe some yellow robes." Sirius' smile could illuminate the darkest of rooms.  
  
"May I propose though, Mr Black, that we accompany his change in image with a personality charm? May one recommend a cheering charm and possible a little tarentallegra?" Harry suggested.  
  
"Why you may, thank you for the suggestion. I propose we play our little prank around main meal this evening." Harry burst out laughing.**

* * *

Yes, it's that necessary chappy where everything comes out, I hate putting a/n in the middle of stories so I had to write it all out.  
  
Ok, todays random questions  
  
Why do "you knock seven bells" out of someone? Why on a bus does it cost less to travel 18 miles to Manchester than it does to travel 3 miles to Bury which in turn costs less than the 2 miles to Ramsbottom (despite them being on the same bus route)? Do the snobs of Upper Ramsbottom know that adding the unnecessary word at the beginning of the place names gives bad connotations, especially when said with the Lancastrian accent? 


	12. Swallowing Pride

Harry suddenly found himself in the room of requirement, staring at his to best mates while laughing his head off.  
  
"James? Are you OK?" Ron asked, after all he was slightly concerned about the maurauder's mental welfare. Here he was suddenly killing himself with laughter immediately after finding out some depressing and worrying facts about the way his life was going to turn out.  
  
"It's alright, I'm back", Harry finally stopped laughing and looked at his best mates, they were looking at him as if he had gone loopy giving Harry the need to explain himself, "The marauders were planning on pranking Snape this evening, I'm gutted I'll probably miss it. So what's up?"  
  
"Your dad had a vision." Harry suddenly sat up straight, remembering why he was on the quidditch fields in the first place.  
  
"It was about trying to kill him and your mam" Harry looked panicked; he thought his dad wouldn't have to see it, there was no connection and even if there was Harry would have hoped that only him would ever have to experience that feeling.  
  
"Yeah, he felt the scar pains and everything, he told Dumbledore whose trying to work it out and we had to tell him about everything". Ron clarified.  
  
Harry looked up to his 2 best friends, "I know, I left him a letter explaining everything. I had the vision too but I didn't think my dad would have had the dream and even if he did I didn't think that you would know about it". Harry was secretly glad it was a Saturday in 1996 not the Wednesday he would have to face in 1977. Now he could just sit in the room of requirement with the 2 people who meant the most to him.  
  
Ron and Hermione, they should be a couple and probably will be in a few years time. After years of wanting a proper family he had got it with the Weasley's. Hermione was like a sister to him; always there and sometimes irritating but he loved her all the same. Ron was the ultimate best mate; he almost died for Harry in 3 years out of 5. Harry knew he was so lucky to have friends like them; their friendship was quite possibly unbreakable. They had helped him get over Sirius, maybe that was the wrong terminology, he hadn't got over him or forgotten or anything so final, he had just decided that it would be foolish to stop living his life. As much as he hated to admit it they were right, Sirius went out doing what he would have wanted the most, fighting while protecting what mattered to him. Harry had changed since the department on mysteries. He was now determined to win against Voldemort; he was not going to lose. In the room of requirement the trio had practised so many different hexes and curses that any one of the three could probably defeat 98% of the wizarding population.  
  
In addition to this the DA was still going on, although with the increased amount of work and a decent teacher it was no longer his baby. Harry had enough on with Hermione nagging him about his NEWTs and also it seemed pointless for a kid to teach it when their was a perfectly able teacher available. Professor Spokes was fantastic at teaching DADA, coming close to Professor Lupin's performance in third year. She was light hearted enough but if you crossed her she would turn into a right little mare and when in a bad mood she could make McGonagal seem positively soft. She didn't look like you're typical Hogworts professor with her ample frame and shoulder length blonde hair; she also wore muggle clothes and not the usual robes to teach. The DA was now better organised and taught more even though it stuck to the same format as before, without the charmed paper and the gold Galleons informing members of the time.  
  
Harry's thoughts were brought back down to earth with a bang, he had obviously been daydreaming but the gaping faces of his 2 best mates made him realise he would have to say something to break the uncomfortable silence developing in the snug.  
  
"What's he like?" Harry finally asked Ron and Hermione; knowing full well that he wouldn't get a tarnished answer. They would tell him more or less straight and even if they didn't he would know they had been lying. Harry had been leading his father's life on and off for 2 weeks now but he still didn't know him, they swapped lives but had never met.  
  
Ron looked to Hermione, who took the hint and started talking "He has grown up a lot in 2 weeks. To start off with he was just a little brat, he didn't do anything but you could tell in his tone of voice and the body language. Now he's matured, we told him about you and it's like he's really proud of you, even though you are the same age."  
  
Ron continued "He can't dive like you on the quidditch team but he's alright at acting like the captain. Don't think he'd have a cat in hell's chance beating any of us in a duel though". A Wicked grin crept along Ron's freckled face.  
  
"So, I kick his ass in all fields?" Harry asked, grateful for not living in his father's shadow. The others laughed. "There's only one Harry Potter, indeed".  
  
The whole word was gearing up for battle since they believed his story, and now the battle was going to be taken some place else where Harry Potter wasn't around to save them and the chances are that those dragged into the fight wouldn't know what hit them, that thought worried Harry immensely.

* * *

**James was back in 1977, face to face with the one person he had a lot of apologising to do. It was an awkward moment by the side of the quidditch field in which he had returned while Sirius was laughing his head off. James looked down at the ground; unable to make eye contact with the one person he could have told anything to this time last week. "Padfoot? It's James; I owe you an apology. I found out something in the future, which made me angry, but Ron and Hermione have just told me that I was wrong. I'm really sorry".  
  
Sirius pulled up James face to see his own, "I don't know what happened so I can't really say anything. I guess you were just protecting your son" Despite the confidence in Sirius' voice it was obvious that the friendship had been damaged by James' outburst.  
  
"Harry's an orphan." There, he'd started the ball rolling, all he had to do was keep it like that, he carried on speaking before Sirius could distract him, "I got told you betrayed us, they were wrong. I'm really sorry" James started to feel tears well up in his eyes; he'd never done anything like that before in front of his friends. He didn't actually start to cry, he was far too macho to do that, but he still felt that feeling inside where your eyes sting and throat tightens up, making you wonder if you can breathe anymore, let alone speak.  
  
"Prongs, look at me"  
  
James reluctantly lifted his head, "It's alright, I don't blame you, I would never do that to you though and I hope you know."  
  
The pair gave each other a manly hug, it was obvious all was not forgiven but it was a distinct improvement and there was hope for the relationship being patched up soon.  
  
James had made his excuses and dawdled off to the dorm under the pretence of getting his work ready for first lesson, bloody Muggle Studies again. Partially he wanted to be away to let the issues run through his head, with Ron and Hermione it was different. They had been though it all, they knew everything, he could talk to them. The other reason he wanted to get away was that he couldn't bare to bear near the traitorous bastard Wormtail who would no doubt be making an appearance by Sirius' side some time soon, being alone with Sirius was uncomfortable enough without adding the rat into the equation.  
  
Harry must have been so strong resisting the opportunity to kill the person who would nigh on ruin his life, then the thought crept into James' mind; maybe Harry secretly loved the fame, maybe his parents meant nothing to him. This was promptly pushed to the back of his mind, it had to be the former, no child of his would be a death eater. James knew he would hurt Wormtail though, hurt him for the betrayal, for dragging his kid through so much, for the scar pains and Sirius. He may not be the traitor yet but time couldn't be changed. Was he a death eater already? Was he always evil or had something happened? James couldn't think all these thoughts with Peter in his presence.  
  
Throwing his Comet 260 onto his bed he realised it hadn't been slept in, he couldn't think why that would be. Opening his trunk he saw the letter from Harry, sitting on his bed he read it. It was basically a written form of the conversation he had had with Ron and Hermione the night before with a few added points, James was so wrapped up in his thought he didn't hear the gentle knock at the door, nor notice when Evans entered the room.  
  
"Harry?" she asked, James looked back at her with red eyes, the letter from his son shaking in his hands. Lily sat next James and took the letter, placing it on the bed beside him.  
  
"James? Are you OK?" he shook his head, unable to lie anymore.  
  
"Read the letter" Lily looked uncertainly at James but picked it up regardless. She read it to herself  
  
_James/Dad/Whoever  
  
I guess this is my life story, I figured you may need to learn about it now. You have to understand though that you CANNOT change anything. I hope you realise thing would be worse if they didn't happen this way.  
  
I had a vision last night the Voldemort is going to try and kill you and my mum before I am born, Dumbledore know about it all, including who my mum is. I guess I'd better tell you why this is all happening.  
  
There was a prophecy, basically saying that at the end of July 1981 the only person who would be able to kill Voldemort would be born to parents had 3 times defied him and this person would be marked as his equal. Unfortunately a death eater partially over heard this. Voldemort decided to kill anyone who matched the description. That's why he came after you, he wanted to kill me but because my mum died to save me the killing curse rebounded on him and he was torn from his body. I got marked with my scar.  
  
You knew that Voldemort would be after you so you performed the fidellus charm, it means only one person can tell people where you are and no one can find you unless they are told by that one person. You wanted to choose Sirius but he though that was too obvious and decided to choose Peter instead. He betrayed you but everyone thought that Sirius was the secret- keeper and after he collared the rat the next day Wormtail blew up a street, screamed about how Sirius betrayed you and transformed and went down the sewers with the other rats, Sirius got sentenced to life in Azkaban.  
  
I got raised by my muggle Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. They hated magic, and as a result hated me. They tried to squash the magic out of me but failed. I lived in a cupboard under the stairs until I was 11 when my Hogwort's letter came, but I wasn't allowed to read it. I think that scared them because now I have Dudley's (my cousin's) second bedroom. Hagrid eventually gave me my letter, he told me about you. I had been told my parent's died in a car crash and nothing else. Hagrid told me how you died and all about you. He gave me my first birthday cake, and gave me the first clue to what you looked like, I had no photos, everyone says I look just like you but with my mum's eyes. I totally agree with them.  
  
First year was fantastic, I met Ron on the train, he was really awe struck to meet me and I found it really funny that everyone knew my name. I also met Hermione on the train, but we didn't like her until we won a fight with a mountain troll. We found out that someone was trying to steal the philosopher's stone which was being kept in Hogworts, we thought it was Snape who is our potions master but it turned out to be Quirrel, our DADA professor who had the slight problem of having Lord Voldemort stuck to the back of his head. Eventually me, Ron and Hermione went looking for the culprit ourselves, we had to do all these tasks and everything until eventually I was facing Voldemort on my own. Because of my mum's sacrifice he couldn't touch me and as a result I stalled long enough for Dumbledore to destroy the stone.  
  
First year I also made it onto the quidditch team, Malfoy (I hope you haven't met him yet, he's a pain up the arse) stole Neville's remembrall and threw it, I managed to catch it and McGonagol saw, I was made seeker even though I thought I was going to be expelled for being on a broom when I shouldn't have been. Also in first year I first saw you and mum in the mirror of Erised, which shows you what you really want in life. I spent hours in front of that mirror until Dumbledore said it was pointless, I don't need it now I have my album. Dumbledore also gave me your invisibility cloak that has come in handy so many times.  
  
Beginning of second year I almost got myself expelled after me and Ron drove a flying car to Hogworts that crashed into the Whomping Willow. I also got my first warning for using magic outside of school, actually it was a house elf called Dobby who did it but the ministry didn't seem to care. Dobby kept trying to save my life, but he wasn't very good at it  
  
Second year we had this right twit teaching DADA, he was famous although it emerged he just stole other people's quests and pretended he did them, he took me on as his protégé because he thought I wanted to be famous (I don't incidentally, I'd rather just be Harry Potter living at home with his mum and dad and NO Dursleys). I hated second year, everyone thought I was the hair of Slytherin but I am not. When Voldemort gave me my scar he gave me some of his power too, I'm a parslemouth but I didn't know it was bad or rare or anything, I didn't even know I weren't speaking English. I used it in front of the whole duelling club, which wasn't the best thing to do. The chamber of secrets it turned out was opened by Ron's sister Ginny who had been possessed by Voldemort through a diary with his memory in it (Voldemort is really called Tom Marvolo Riddle, rearrange it and you get I am Lord Voldemort, how cute. Also his dad is a muggle). I defeated him in the chamber of secrets after me and Ron went to save Ginny. I killed the basilisk in there; it had been petrifying people all year, including Hermione.  
  
Third year a good friend of yours, and my godfather, Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban. Everyone thought he was an evil murderer out to get me but as I explained before he wasn't, he was after Peter Pettigrew who was pretending to be a pet rat, more specifically Ron's pet rat Scabbers. The truth all came out in the shrieking shack but Pettigrew got away and Sirius had to stay on the run, only us three, Dumbledore and the DADA professor know the truth. He did buy me my Firebolt though (if you haven't rode it yet you HAVE to, it's fantastic). We also had one Mr Remus Lupin teaching DADA, he was the best teacher we ever had but he had to leave after Professor Snape accidentally let slip that he was a werewolf the night after we helped Sirius escape. We had to use a time turner that Hermione was using to take all her classes (if you haven't already noticed she is a little bit of a bookworm). I learnt the patronus charm in third year from Lupin, it takes the form of a stag and I drove over 100 of them away. When dementors come near I can hear Voldemort killing you and my mum, then I pass out. I felt guilty because even though I hated dementor that was the only time I could remember hearing your voices.  
  
Third year I also had a slight problem with Aunt Marge. She was slating you and mum and I couldn't cope and did accidental magic, she blew up like a balloon and was finally punctured near Sunderland, couldn't have happened to a nicer person. I also got the map, which enabled me to get to Hogsmede without a signed form...I must thank you for writing that. Fred and George (Ron's brother's who gave me the map) think you are fantastic; they hero- worship you even though they don't know who you are.  
  
Fourth year Voldemort came back, fifth year no one believed me until he came back in the middle of the department of mysteries, I'm back to being the boy-who-lived instead of a crazy attention seeker. I'm sorry for not going into these but the stuff that happened in them still hurts and you don't really need to know it, I might tell you eventually but I don't want to at the moment. Little bits from them though include winning the tri- wizard tournament, going to the quidditch world cup with Ron, learning to throw of the Imperio curse and most importantly getting expelled from school (only for about 5 minutes and it wasn't my fault.. Some daft bint sent dementors after me and they expelled me after using the patronus charm).  
  
In fifth year I went into a pensive and saw you bullying Snape. You were by the lake being a show off and you tipped Snape upside down so everyone saw his pants. You were cruel and I hope you changed because you were nothing more than an arrogant bully. I saw my mum stick up for Snape; I hope I'm like her in that respect. At this moment in time I think he deserved it though, he's the one who made me drink my dodgy potion. There's other stuff too and in the penseive he called my mum a mudblood. I don't like people insulting my family.  
  
So, my life in a nutshell. Someone should really write a book on it. I hope I haven't scared you too much and please don't ever pity me, I hate that. Now I've bored you to pieces I'm going to go.  
  
Don't lose my place on the quidditch team!  
  
Harry.  
_  
Lily looked at James. "He's my son, isn't he". James returned the gaze, suddenly his shoes didn't seem like the most interesting things in the world.  
  
"Why do you say that?" he asked, he knew Harry wouldn't have told her and James definitely didn't want to laden the burden on her.  
  
"The letter says about you bullying Snape by the lake. I was there, I stuck up for him and he called me a mudblood". How could he have been so stupid?  
  
"I'm a twit, I should've remembered that." Lily pulled James' face up to hers  
  
"I would have guessed anyway, he has my eyes and I guess he's like me in some respects, also my sister is called Petunia and her boyfriend is called Vernon. They hate magic. He is my son, isn't he?" James nodded.  
  
James found it odd, this guy pretended to be him half the time but he didn't know him at all  
  
"What's he like?" he asked.  
  
Lily smiled, "He's lovely. He's caring, a lot quieter than you and a lot less cocky. He's damn mature but reading that letter there is no surprise why. He talks about his friends, I think he misses them a lot."  
  
James mirrored Lily's smile. "His friends are great, they've been though so much together and they are still average kids. Grown up but it hasn't screwed them up or anything." James fell back on his bed "He's not even born yet, and I know I'll never get to know him. But I'm so proud of him".  
  
Lily just nodded in agreement, "So am I".  
  
James and Lily sat on his bed for ages talking about their future son and his life. Lily was surprised just how much James had matured while this whole scenario was going on while James was just overcome with fatherly pride. He was the same age as Harry but that bond was definitely there. The pair where both surprised that they were actually holding a civilised conversation less than a fortnight after the original changeover so much had happened. Suddenly pranks and games weren't the be all and end all. Maybe it was because they knew how it would all end up but they were slowly starting to like each other, not in a Romeo and Juliet way but in a subtle not wanting to rip off each others head and spit in their faces whenever their paths crossed kind of way.  
  
It was James who suggested going up to the room of requirement, now that he had been informed of it's existence James felt it would be a tragedy if it wasn't utilised to it's full potential. He was rather surprised when Lily said she knew of it, and that her and Harry had slept in here the night of the dream. James let Lily chose what the room would be, she decided on her bedroom at home again and when they walked in there was the girlie paradise Lily missed so much when she wasn't at home. James looked around, the white bedside tables had a couple of muggle books on them and the window on the left wall looked out onto a large hill covered in heather with a brick tower on top, this must be Lily's home he thought.  
  
James sat against the wall on the floor while Lily sat crossed legged on her bed, Lily talked about home and how much she missed it, she even missed her big sister Petunia even though she wasn't a nice person. James nodded, his family had a cottage at Godric's Hollow, James liked it there with its large garden and light rooms. He described his family to Lily, his mum and Dad, Grandad and Grandmas. He was an only child as were his parents, so the family was small but close.  
  
"Wonder what our son is up to now?" She asked James, he had been to the future and knew what was happening.  
  
"It's a Saturday in 1996, he'll probably be dossing with Ron and Hermione. When we changed over we were in here but them three have it as a little snug with big sofas and piles of sweets and drink. They had just told me everything about what had happened in Harry's life. They are great people, just the kind of friends you wish you had." Lily was thinking about how strange this was, they were going to die in less than 6 years, but that wasn't bothering her at all. We all had to go sometime, she was just grateful it was going to give her son the gift of life. From what she read at least aveda kedevra seemed painless enough. **

****

* * *

Hello there childen, well another chapter. sory to have the hole books 1-5 in a nutshell again, but I wanted to have the letter in there. Sorry.

Anyways seeing that most readers of this fic seem to be American I was wondering if ou could help me with today's random question. In the Uk we have Nursery from 2-4, Primary School from 4-11 (reception to year 6), High school from 11-16 (year 7 to year 11) ,and sixth form (or college) from 16-18 (LVI and UVI). What is the American system? There is a bet riding on this so please give the answer I want :p

Cheers

Kimmiijay Kotchanski


	13. United

Harry stayed in the room of requirement until dinnertime, at which point the trio went to the great hall and sat at the Gryffindor table helping themselves to piles of bangers and mash. It was with great surprise they saw Dumbledore coming down to talk to them, usually he would owl them with an appointment time or get another member of staff to forward his message to the appropriate students.  
  
"Once you three have been fed I would like you to pack your trunks and bring them to my office." Harry nodded, wondering what was going on, maybe they were being moved out for their own safety. They did have a talent for finding trouble after all. Ron and Hermione looked equally surprised  
  
"Maybe we are going on a trip" Ron spoke with a mouthful of mash, getting him disgusted looks from Hermione.  
  
"Of course, what I am wondering about is where to? I guess it must be confidential because otherwise McGonagol would have told us to meet him."  
  
Harry just shrugged "Doubt it, if it was a secret why would he tell us here, it's packed"  
  
"Can't you remember what Sirius said last year, it would be harder to overhear us in The Great Hall", for a moment Harry could see Hermione as that same snotty brat him and Ron met on the Hogwort's Express on the first day of secondary school.  
  
"It doesn't matter anyway, sounds like we'll find out soon enough." This time Ron had learnt his lesson and spoke with an empty mouth, obviously Hermione's chastisements where starting to get through to him. The boys had chocolate frogs for afters where as Hermione's upbringing with 2 dentists was still engrained in her and she chose the fruit.  
  
Up in their dorms Harry started packing everything in his trunk "Do you recon he means pack everything or just what we need?" He asked.  
  
"I'm taking everything, I don't know what we are doing so better to be safe than sorry. We can get Hermione to shrink them for us once we've finished." It took the boys over half an hour to find their belongings among the rubbish which littered the boys dorms by the end of the year, although Harry was tidier than Ron after years of the Dursley's he still struggled to find all his stuff.  
  
Eventually Hermione came bounding in "Really, are you finished yet?" She asked with an impatient tone.  
  
"Yeah, I'm all done," said Harry, slamming the lid shut and bolting the last few clasps on his trunk. Hermione instantly shrunk his trunk to the size of a 50 pence piece. He put if in the pocket of his robes and went over to help Ron, with three of them looking for his stuff his trunk was in a similar state to Harry's within 5 minutes. Hermione had already shrunk hers so as soon as Ron had finished the trio walked to the Headmaster's office.  
  
"Liquorice wands" Ron said, getting a reprimanding look from Hermione, "I didn't do anything, I took James to Dumbledore after the vision, that's how I know it". They progressed to the top of the stone spiral staircase and knocked on the big wooden doors.  
  
"Hello, I was expecting you. You may well be wondering where you are going with such short notice. Given recent developments" he look directly at Harry, "I have decided that you three should go back to 1977. As much as I hate to admit it James will have no chance against Voldemort and these switches complicate matters greatly. It will be much easier for all concerned if both Harry and James stay in the same time, it will prevent confusion." Ron looked doubtful at this, but decided not to argue with Dumbledore.  
  
Hermione however raised her concerns, "Sir, how does sending 3 people back help anything, surely it just means the timelines will suffer further damage."  
  
"Miss Granger, I think you will agree Voldemort is going to cause sufficient damage. I have thought this through and having one of the pair dying in the wrong time would be disastrous, we may lose both. This gives us as way of protecting everyone. Harry will always be there to protect his father and vice versa." The group nodded, not entirely convinced.  
  
"How do we get back?" Hermione asked.  
  
Dumbledore smiled, removing a broken tea cup from a pocket in his robes "This is a portkey of sorts, I've been tinkering to make it change time as well as location. It will send all those touching any time and place they want to. I cannot come with you, but I am sure my counterpart in the past will be willing to help when you need to come back."  
  
"I say the room of requirement in 1977" Harry and Ron nodded, in agreement it would probably be empty and they could hope it would be cushioned in case they fell. The trio grasped the broken cup; within a few seconds they felt a familiar pull behind their navels as they fell to the ground.  
  
Lily and James where sitting in their respective positions when a loud crack was heard and three teenagers suddenly appeared in the room clutching what appeared to be a broken china cup. On reflex the pair reached for their wands and pointed them at the intruders, no one should be able to do whatever they just did into Hogworts. James lowered his wand as soon as the red headed boy looked up at him  
  
"James?" He said before clambering too his feet, brushing himself off at the same time. "Ron! Hi! This is Lily" he said while pushing his red headed companion from 1976 to the foreground before helping Hermione get to her feet. Finally the third of the teens stood up, a boy who would have passed as James, but with startling green eyes, a boy James recognised from the photo album.  
  
"Harry?" he asked uncertainly. Harry looked straight at his father, trying to appreciate every single detail about his appearance.  
  
"James?" he said eventually.  
  
Hermione took control of the situation at the point. "Your both right".  
  
James started speaking first "See, I didn't lose your place on the team"  
  
Harry laughed. "And a good job too, otherwise I would have your guts for garters"  
  
Lily stepped forward to Hermione "Typical blokes. Your future son drops in the room with 2 friends who are not even born yet and the first thing they talk about it quidditch. I'm Lily by the way"  
  
"Yeah, we know who you are", said Hermione. Ron joined Hermione, putting his arm around her waist "I'm Ron and this is Hermione"  
  
Lily shook their hands, "I know, he spoke about you a lot. You're Harry's best mates aren't you?" The pair nodded. Harry came over "They are not just my best mates, they are like family." Harry had finally appreciated there is more to family than blood.  
  
"Well, do you think we had better introduce ourselves to the head?" Hermione said in a business like tone.  
  
"I suppose, do you 2 want to come for a walk?" Ron looked at Harry's parents who responded by walking out of the room of requirement behind the cruelly named dream team.  
  
James and Harry dropped back from the group a little bit, both desperate to meet the other after all they had been through, but it also meant that Lily could meet Ron and Hermione. The whole group would then know each other. Harry looked down at the floor as he walked down the corridor, unable to think of what to say.  
  
James ended up making the first comment, "They're right you know, you do look just like me but with Lily's eyes."  
  
Harry found this thought amusing; "You're calling her Lily now? Maybe there's hope for me being born after all." James playfully swiped at his son. "Leave it off" he said, shrugging away in a dramatic fashion, his tone of voice making it clear he was just jesting, "I've escaped Voldemort six times. I'm sure I can manage you". Harry pulled his tongue out and ducked another swipe on reflex. The pair burst into hysterical laughter.  
  
Up ahead Lily was talking with Ron and Hermione, after Lily spoke about how she had never read about the room of requirement, even in 'Hogwort's: A history' Ron had randomly started giggling.  
  
"What's up with you?" asked Lily, Ron just laughed harder.  
  
"You look so much like my sister it's scary and now you are acting like Hermione. I was convinced she was the only person ever to memorise that book". Hermione gave him an evil glare,  
  
"I just have a good memory, and maybe you should read sometime, you might learn something. I must admit though, Lily does look amazingly like Ginny". Ron laughed even louder, and was now attracting the attention of a group of first years coming the opposite way down the corridor.  
  
"If her and Harry finally get round to going out it would be like history repeating itself" This warranted a sharp dig in the ribs from Hermione  
  
"What was that for, it damn hurt!" but looking at the glare on Hermione's face he knew immediately exactly what had made her react like that, luckily so did Lily. "I know about Harry being my son, he doesn't know that I do but James accidentally said too much before and I pieced the pieces together. Anyway, he does have my eyes".  
  
The group where finally at the door of Dumbledore's office. It was Lily who knocked, decided maybe as the only person who wasn't a time traveller it may be for the best she conducted affairs. She pushed one of the heavy doors open and the assorted teenagers filed into the office.  
  
"Professor, these three are Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger and you already know Harry. They have been sent from 1996" Dumbledore just nodded, sank into his chair and gestured for the others to sit down.  
  
"Now, Harry, I take it this has something to do with your vision?" Harry nodded.  
  
"I don't know how much to tell you, in 1996 you seemed to feel that Voldemort was causing enough damage to the time lines as it was so us three coming back would have little difference on the future."  
  
Dumbledore looked straight at Harry. "I must request you tell me everything". Harry didn't want to recite the story again, so instead he looked over to his dad. "Have you still got that letter I wrote?" James pulled it from a pocket in his robes and passed it to Dumbledore, who read it, occasionally chuckling and at other times looking grave.  
  
"What happened in the past 3 years? I know it will probably be hard, but we need all the information" James looked at Harry but they didn't make eye contact, he know, or at least he thought he knew. More importantly he understood what Harry was feeling, that deep sense of loss and anger.  
  
"Can't I show you in the penseive sir, I really don't want to have to talk you through it again" Harry pleaded with his headmaster.  
  
"What is a penseive, I don't think I'm familiar with that pieces of equipment but if you told me what it does I would be willing to use it or an alternative providing I know of one" Dumbledore started drumming his finger tips together.  
  
"It a kind of bowl you store memories in, you have one in 1996 which has runes around it" Harry's heart was sinking, the blank look on Dumbledore's face suggested he was going to have to recount events the muggle way. After a prolonged silence, in which it appeared Dumbledore was thinking about possible alternatives he began to speak. "I'm sorry Mr Potter but I know not of anything which works in such a way. Please will you tell me everything that happened in the past three years"?  
  
Harry took a deep breath and started speaking as fast as he could manage, as if getting it out quicker would make it hurt less. "Fourth year I kept getting scar pains and visions, some journalist picked up on it and said I was mad. it emerged our DADA professor was a disguised death eater, who entered me for the triwizard tournament. Cedric and me won and grabbed the cup at the same time; it was a port key that took us to Voldemort who killed Cedric. He then took my blood, Wormtail's hand and some bone from his dad to make a potion that gave him a body. We ended up duelling but our wands are brothers, they are the only 2 wands with feathers from Fawkes. Priori incanteam happened" Harry left it at that happening Dumbledore understood, from the look on his face he didn't but Harry continued through regardless.  
  
"Fifth year still had the media making out I was mad, the Ministry didn't admit Voldemort was back and The Order was restarted. The Ministry tried to take over Hogworts and nearly succeeded. At the end of the year Voldemort sent me a fake vision and tricked me into trying to get the prophecy. The Order found out but loads got hurt and my godfather died as a result. Sixth year the second war had started, death, destruction but nothing involving me personally yet." Harry finished, and looked up at the headmaster. He seemed sufficiently convinced.  
  
"That's why I've sent you here. You are possibly the three people in the world best equipped to fight Voldemort".  
  
Harry hated to admit it but he was right, the trio had deified Voldemort more times than even his parents. In first year he gave Harry the chance to fight Voldemort and this was probably the future Dumbledore doing the same thing. Maybe he even felt guilty for keeping Harry in the dark last year, or maybe he knew something Harry didn't.  
  
"I can fight him, but I don't know how to kill him. I have always had lucky escapes. You've saved me a couple of times, even though last time I was so angry with you it took a while to realise it."  
  
Dumbledore nodded, "But still you have got away from Voldemort 5 times, no one has ever managed that."  
  
Harry stood up and looked straight at the professor "But I am 16 years old, I haven't even got my NEWTS and my OWLS weren't all fantastic. I tired to do crucio last year and I couldn't even manage that, how am I meant to kill him? The prophecy says I have a power the dark lord doesn't know I have, but whatever it is it's keeping itself well hidden." Harry was getting angry again, he threw himself back into his chair. Dumbledore just smiled at Harry,  
  
"You will manage, you will succeed", Harry wished he had his confidence. "In the meantime I guess you will need accommodation, an education and some equipment."  
  
Hermione stood up, "We are in Gryffindor, but if we can't stay in the dorms we could stay in the room of requirement. We have all our stuff with us, we packed and shrunk our trunks but I don't know how we'll attend lessons. It will look like we have come out of nowhere."  
  
"Miss Granger; that will be no problem. You may stay in Gryffindor tower, as for attending lessons I will leave it up to you to make up a story to tell others, it may be the truth or it maybe fantasy, I will not tell the teachers anything for the time being except there are some new pupils in their classes, but I believe the switching difficulties between the 2 Mr Potter's should not be revealed unless necessary." The group turned and left the office, treading the route to Gryffindor tower that was now engrained in their minds, trying to catch up on each other's lives.

* * *

And that marks the end of the recap chapters, it's been long and dull but they are over with. Hallelujah!

Now I am off doing some Medicine Revision and hopefully passing these resits I got coming up.

Oh, and I like the chapter title for this, but it's a word usually replaced in my household with "dirty filthy red scum". It is positivly swearing in my eyes. Please do not mistake this for any sympothies for the football team they call Manure.

I'll probably post somemore tomorrow, but in the meantime I leave you with the following words: -

"Nowt in life is fair, but nor are black puddings"

Kimmiijay Kotchanski


	14. Wild Reactions

The boys headed up to their dorm followed by Lily and Hermione, the group where surprised when the remaining marauders where in the room, everyone with the exception of Sirius, Remus and Harry glared at Peter. Harry just looked away, scared of what he would do if he made eye contact; Ron on the other hand showed no such restraint. He lunged at Peter and threw him to the floor hitting him repeatedly around the head "You - stupid - piece - of - filth" He was stopped by Sirius dragging him off and hitting him in the stomach.  
  
"What was that for, you don't even know him1".  
  
Ron went bright red, "You don't know anything, but if you did you'd be joining in".  
  
Harry just yelled "ENOUGH!" and everyone stared at him, it was the first time anyone in the room with the exception of Ron and Hermione had heard the usually quiet black haired boy shout.  
  
"Cheers Ron, but we can't do anything regarding that rat and you know full well we can't". Ron just nodded.  
  
Sirius came to the front, "Care to explain what's going on, for starters why are both Harry and James in the same room and what the hell is he", he shot arrows in Ron's direction, "doing attacking our friends?"  
  
It was Hermione who took charge this time. "I'm Hermione and this is Ron, we are Harry's mates from 1996. Dumbledore decided that the three of us should come back here thanks to, erm, recent developments. We are staying here while something gets sorted out."  
  
Sirius wasn't buying the explanation and his facial expression said so, "So Dumbledore has sent a loads of kids to do his running, my arse, you are probably a set of Slytherins after us or something".  
  
Ron again lost it "We may be young but we've been through shit loads, don't push us because you don't know the full story!"  
  
"Then why don't you tell us it!" Sirius yelled back. Harry stood shell shocked "We can't, so much happens in the future you can't know it or it will all change." Sirius scoffed, bringing an awkward silence to the group.  
  
"Open your trunk" Hermione said to Harry, making eyes contact with him and refusing to break it. Harry didn't know what this had to do with anything but as he was going to have to unpack eventually he could see no harm in following her direction. He placed the small wooden lump of the floor and muttered "Engorgio". The trunk became its full size. "Get out your photo album and show it to Sirius." Again Harry couldn't see where this was going but gave over the leather bound book regardless. Sirius opened the book and looked through. Hermione came over by him and sat him on the bed. "Look through it, tell me the deliberate mistakes."  
  
Sirius leafed through pages of photos of Evans and some of the Marauders, he saw wedding photos of James and someone who looked alarmingly like Evans, next was the same couple with a little baby. Then the photos stopped until the baby had grown up to about 11, he was with the 2 strangers currently in this room, then there was pictures of a family of redheads, Harry sticking out like a sore thumb. He continued to look through until eventually there where photos of the teenagers with a guy undeniably a grown up Moony, and next to them a man with a gaunt face, battered robes and matted shoulder length black hair, but most alarmingly with Sirius' grey eyes and a small tattoo on his neck he had had since he was 13. The guy WAS Sirius. Hermione broke the silence, "What are the mistakes?" She asked quietly, so only Sirius could hear.  
  
"James and Lily get married. There are no photographs at all of anyone after the early baby photos until Harry is about 11. I'm in there but I look an absolute mess, like I've been ill or been through something big and Moony's in there but he doesn't look so bad. There's no photos of James or Lily at all after the big gap."  
  
Hermione looked at him "See what Ron means? We know a lot more than you think. We have a lot of stuff in our past you don't understand. Don't presume anything." Hermione walked away from Sirius and sat down next to Ron. Harry was thankful, she had shut the argument up without giving anything away, and although he was aware she would have created some nagging questions in Sirius' mind she had provided evidence for her case.  
  
"I think we should tell them." James said, looking round the others. "Not everything about your past but about the prophecy thing and the vision, what have we got to lose by telling them the whole thing anyway? Really me and Lily are the only ones who can change anything".  
  
Harry shook his head, "Then the rat would know the full prophecy, and that would screw things up."  
  
James coolly replied, "Not all of it, just about what you are going to do, that will keep time the same and at the same time it will explain the visions".  
  
This time Harry reluctantly gave in, "Ok then" he muttered.  
  
James looked round at the others "Don't bother asking for the full story" he said, "This is all you are getting. Harry here is the only person who can defeat you-know-who. Harry can get visions of what you know who is up to, last time I was in 1996 I got one. Voldemort wants to kill Lily and me so Harry is never born." Sirius looked shocked but refrained from speaking. "That is a highly abridged version, more will probably come out but don't push it".  
  
The room descended into deathly silence as the group of teenagers each stared at each other yet at the same time refused to make eye contact with anyone. Sirius looked rather unwell, rocking slightly backwards and forwards on his bed, Lily stood next to James, closer than could ever have been expected this time last week but still no physical contact. Harry looked to the floor as Ron and Hermione wrapped their arms around each other, Hermione standing in front and Ron holding her round the waist. Remus sat still on the floor, pondering the next question. Peter hid away from the new trio, scared that the red head at least was going to garrotte him. Whatever happened in the future he knew he had done something major; something that the trio will never forgive him for. While Ron's reaction scared Peter Harry's was the alarming one, not once had he made eye contact in the three weeks Peter had known of his presence. Peter resolved that whatever he did he wasn't going to do it this time around. All he had to do now is find out his mistake.  
  
"So, now the air has been cleared have we forgot getting Snape? I have a personal vendetta to fulfil" Harry looked round, he hated the uncomfortable air their arrival had created.  
  
Sirius responded with his usual bark like laugh, somehow managing to rush through a sentence in the process "Of course not dearie, I must say the prank has been elaborated somewhat since your departure though" A wicked grin crept along his face  
  
"Excellent" Harry replied, Hermione looked shocked,  
  
"Harry, you can't prank Snape, we can't attract too much attention to ourselves and he's a professor"  
  
The marauders looked at one another and started to laugh involuntarily, not out of the hilarity of the situation but out of the scary thought that Snape had power, "That slime ball became a professor? The future is just plain wrong" Sirius yelled.  
  
"Thank god we never swapped during his subject." James muttered, trying to suppress laughter.  
  
"Hermione, that git is the reason James and Harry keep randomly swapping, I think it's our duty as friends to make him a laughing stock before he has the opportunity to put us into detention." To which Sirius got to his feet and started clapping Ron.  
  
"I must agree, but now is feeding time and I don't know about you but I'm starving. We shall discuss this later."

* * *

No random questions today, instead I bring you random song lyrics. This is Three Lions by Baddiel, Skinner and the Lightening Seeds. Sing it loud and sing it proud. Urs Meire I've still not forgiven you

_(I think it's bad news for the English game)  
(We're not creative enough and we're not positive enough)  
  
It's coming home, it's coming home, it's coming,  
Football's coming home  
  
(we'll go on getting bad results)  
  
It's coming home, it's coming home, it's coming,  
Football's coming home  
It's coming home, it's coming home, it's coming,  
Football's coming home  
It's coming home, it's coming home, it's coming,  
Football's coming home  
  
Everyone seems to know the score, they've seen it all before  
They just know, they're so sure  
That England's gonna throw it away, gonna blow it away  
But I know they can play,  
'Cause I remember  
  
Three lions on a shirt  
Jules Rimet still gleaming  
Thirty years of hurt  
Never stopped me dreaming  
  
So many jokes, so many sneers  
But all those 'oh so near's  
Wear you down, through the years  
But I still see that tackle by Moore  
And when Lineker scored, Bobby belting the ball  
And all because of   
  
Three lions on a shirt  
Jules Rimet still gleaming  
Thirty years of hurt  
Never stopped me dreaming  
  
(England have done it! In the last minute of extra time!)  
(What a save, what now)  
(Good old England, England that couldn't play football)  
(England have got it in the bag)  
  
I know that was then, but it could be again..  
  
It's coming home, it's coming home, it's coming,  
Footballs coming home  
It's coming home, it's coming home, it's coming,  
Footballs coming home  
  
(England have done it)  
  
It's coming home, it's coming home, it's coming,  
Footballs coming home  
It's coming home, it's coming home, it's coming,  
Footballs coming home REPEATED IN BACKGROUND  
  
Three lions on a shirt  
Jules Rimet still gleaming  
Thirty years of hurt  
Never stopped me dreaming  
  
Three lions on a shirt  
Jules Rimet still gleaming  
Thirty years of hurt  
Never stopped me dreaming  
  
Three lions on a shirt  
Jules Rimet still gleaming  
Thirty years of hurt  
Never stopped me dreaming_


	15. School days

The group descended from the dorms and made their way to the great hall for the main meal. On the way they had decided not to say anything about the new arrivals unless asked, to which they would tell the truth, at least the part that Harry was a relative of James and Ron and Hermione where his friends and they had come to Hogworts due to a risk of attack. No one would think that the group where from the future and hopefully they would also presume they had come to the school to escape the violence and not to fight in it.  
  
The hall was exactly the same as always, the people where different but the lay out was exactly the same, right down to the same golden plates and goblets of pumpkin juice. Sirius refused to reveal any more details about his master plan for Snape, saying that he could not risk being overheard and thus the surprise being ruined. Instead the group resorted to a good old gluttony as Ron and Sirius took on each other to see who could eat the most plates of mash. After three Ron had stalled, his appetite being dwarfed by that of Sirius, by 3 and a half Ron had finally raised his hands in defeat.  
  
"Bloody hell, and we thought you were bad in our time". Sirius laughed  
  
"Nice to know I am still alive and kicking." The trio looked at each other putting up pretence. Harry was hurting inside but he wasn't going to tell anyone else their fate, he had told James, that was enough.  
  
"Yeah, and you still encourage the rule breaking". Hermione said, hoping that her performance would be good enough warrant a muggle drama GCSE.  
  
The conversation didn't continue, they had successfully managed to pull it off. No one had noticed the worried glances and delayed replies. Harry breathed a sigh of relief, and noticed Hermione and Ron also looked calmer.  
  
That night the 4 marauders, the cruelly named dream team and Lily were all in the fifth year's boy dorm outlining the plan for their revenge on Snape. The room must have been charmed to automatically contain enough beds for everyone in that particular house as there were now 6 beds in the dorm and it was slightly larger. Lily, who usually had nothing to do with pranks and that kind of thing, decided this was a matter of family pride. Snape had given her son a serious problem so it was only fair that he should be punished. It was decided that the prank should start with Snape taking an early morning bath in the great lake, courtesy of a dodgy broomstick, then a well placed charm would cause his hair to be died red and held in a beehive for a minimum of 24 hours, Lily was fantastic at this kind of thing and had worked out a way the charm would have to run it's course unless she lifted it, and she was sure she wasn't going to do the latter.  
  
During the planning of how to get close enough to Snape to perform Tarentellegra James and Harry swapped. It was an odd feeling, almost like how Harry imagined apparition to be, one moment he was on that side of the room and they just changed over. No one else seemed to realise and Harry had to admit that maybe Dumbledore did have a point. Now that they were in the same time line these switches had fewer consequences; no random hushed conversation to work out what the hell you were meant to be doing. The planning continued, it was Lily who first realised the change over, "Hey! You're James, Harry was here". The pair burst out laughing. "Yeah, we had a little swapping incident". After a few confused looks everyone just shrugged off the phenomenon and went back to the plans to make a certain Slytherin's life hell for 24 hours. The plan would be played out the next night at main meal, the same time as the original idea just a day later.  
  
Everyone ended up falling asleep in the room, even Lily and Hermione, who were gently placed on Harry and Ron's bed, they slept on the floor being the perfect gentlemen, covered using their outdoor cloaks retrieved from their now enlarged trunks. The night passed smoothly enough, no visions, no nightmares, not even one of the marauders trying to seduce Lily or Hermione. The group awoke ready for the day ahead, out of the three lessons today the group where all together for the first two (Potions and Transfiguration), then James and had Muggle Studies, Hermione had Arithmancy while the remaining individuals had Divination.  
  
Lily and Hermione went off to get changed into their robes, luckily for the newcomers the uniform had changed little in the past 20 years, the only difference being a slightly different tie but there were enough spare ones around to wear. They agreed to meet outside the potions dungeon, although not quite to Professor Noir's standards the teacher was supposedly exceedingly strict. They entered the room and chose to sit in the back corner so they could all work together, everyone wanted to get to know everyone else. Ron and Hermione where a couple in all but name, Lily and James wanted to know their future son and vice versa and the marauders still hadn't given up yet on getting some more information out of the time travellers. Peter was still getting cold shouldered by everyone except Remus and Sirius, but even they were starting to pick up that it wasn't just Ron who had a deep dislike for him. There was only one excuse for such a large scale shunning; he had done something in the future that had directly affected everyone, and not just the trio.  
  
Potions, the subject that caused all the fuss in the first place, was shared with the Slytherins. Today's potion would be veritaserum, rather complex but useful potion used to ensure anyone you were questioning was telling the truth. Professor Gander, a tall stern woman with a died brunette bob which distracted attention from her old, haggard face decided the best way to start the class was with an example of the effects of the potion. "Do we have any volunteers to take the potion?" Everyone naturally shrank back into their seats.  
  
"No one?" Gander said, looked around the room with a cocked eyebrow, "Ok, I recommend one of our new students. Harry Potter?" All eyes turned to Harry, he could not take that potion, who knows what questions he would be forced to answer.  
  
"Sorry Miss, I can't" Harry prayed she wouldn't push the matter, the small gasp, which accompanied his answer, suggested it would not be that easy.  
  
"It's Professor to you, and you shall come down here and take the potion". Hermione looked at him "It'll be easy stuff, where you live and your name, you'll get away with it and you are more likely to attract attention by not doing it." Harry got up and went to the front of the room.  
  
"Please, just ask easy questions, nothing in depth, please". He looked up to pleading; she nodded her head. Harry drank the small vial of potion the professor passed him. The potion was bland to take, just like water, maybe it was so you could spike someone's drink with it without them noticing, it didn't even feel like anything really, just as if you hadn't had a decent nights kip the night before. "If you would just like to sit here, don't worry. Now, what is your full name?"  
  
"Harry James Potter"  
  
"Where do you live?"  
  
"Number four Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey"  
  
"Describe your family"  
  
Shit, now he was in for it, Harry couldn't do anything about it though, he had no control so automatically started speaking. Well at least it wouldn't give too much away, there could be another James Potter and no one would suspect Lily was his mum...  
  
"My parents were Lily and James Potter, they died when I was a baby though. I have no other family except Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon and my cousin, Dudley who I live with"  
  
Harry knew he had said too much, but he couldn't help it, he had no control over the situation. Sirius and Remus where obviously shocked because he said about Lily and James being dead, Lily appeared very controlled. However, he could not work out why the rest of the class where whispering.  
  
"Mr Potter, if you have no family other than those you mentioned what relation are you to James?"  
  
That's why they were staring, and he appeared to be the only person in the room who didn't realise his mistake. "He's my dad" Shit, there is goes. Harry was mentally chastising himself but knowing he couldn't do anything. One thing that he came to grips with in the aftermath of the death of Sirius was that you cannot control everything and sometimes bad things happen. It's life; shame Harry's was worse than most.  
  
"I guess this must be a duff batch, I hope yours will be much better. I must say that saying all your family was dead was not in good taste. Sit down please" Professor Gander said, trying to gain control of the class once again from the whisperings around the room. She eyed Harry suspiciously as she said this though.  
  
The rest of the class simply agreed with the professor, obviously a duff batch, James Potter was at the back of the class, same age as the rest, he couldn't possibly have a son. Some were whispering about how brave the boy must be to deliberately try and lie in front of the professor and making her look like a fool.  
  
The marauders on the other hand knew otherwise, and wanted to collar Harry before the potion wore off. Sirius got there first  
  
"How did they die?"  
  
"Voldemort"  
  
It was Remus' turn "What are we doing in the future?" Harry tried to stop himself but to no avail, fortunately the others overheard the questioning and Lily dragged the marauders off before they could hear the answer. After the effect of the potion subsided Harry turned to his mother.  
  
"Cheers," Harry smiled at her, "Guess you know the story now" Lily laughed "I already did, your dear father didn't tell me but he is useless at keeping things from people".  
  
Harry let out a subdued laugh, Lily nervously picked up on the fakeness in it "No, really, it's ok. I had suspicions that first day in Muggle Studies, I would have asked if I didn't think James was such a jerk".  
  
The class was split into pairs to concoct their potion, Lily and Harry where together, James with Sirius, Remus with Peter and Hermione with Ron, it was decided it was for the best to keep Peter away from the time travellers and Lily. The rest of the class was uneventful, the method was as long as always and involved lots of specific attention, like stirring it 44 and half times anticlockwise and ensuring chopped caterpillars where all between one and seven millimetres in diameter. The group where happy with their results by the end, even Peter who from reports was the thickest in the group had a clear, watery potion. After packing their bags the large group went to put their sample vials on he teacher's desk, however their smooth getaway was hindered.  
  
"You will wait until after class and we shall talk, I will excuse you from transfiguration until I have the full story." With a sense of foreboding the group sat back down waiting for the room to empty, it was obvious some of the Slytherins where time wasting just to find out what the teacher wanted to speak to them for, maybe they had cheated and they were in for a roasting or maybe that cocky Harry was going to get his comeuppance for trying to make a teacher look stupid. Eventually not even the rubber- neckers could wait any longer without getting detention in Transfiguration and they were left alone.  
  
"Now, I know I said that potion was duff in font of the class, but you know as well as me that it wasn't. Does anyone care to enlighten me how James' son is in the room?" The group fell into an uncomfortable silence. They had been kidding themselves that maybe the professor really did believe the verituserum was dodgy. The awkward scenario of the teens trying to concoct a reasonable answer without communicating was replayed. This was becoming an alarmingly common situation. It was Hermione who came clean; she was a swat, it wasn't in her nature to lie or avoid a teacher's questioning.  
  
"Me, Ron and Harry got sent back from 1996 to 1976 by the future Dumbledore. The present one knows all about our situation".  
  
Professor Gander nodded, yet another pause ensured before she finally responded. "So, I know you shouldn't tell me the future, but I promise not to tell. Who are your parents? I don't know any Grangers but I've taught my fair share of Weasley's through the years."  
  
It was Ron who broke the silence this time, "You won't know Hermione's; she is a muggle-born. My parents are Arthur and Molly".  
  
"Molly Prewitt? Well, that was obviously waiting to happen. James and Lily on the other hand, I can't say I'm not surprised" She let out an uncharacteristic giggle.  
  
"Well, as much as I'd love to talk, now my initial curiosity has been quenched I guess you should be off to next period. If your professor has a problem with your lateness please feel free to tell them to talk with me." With that the group vacated the room, deeply relieved she didn't probe too deeply into the situation and appeared to take it all well.

* * *

HELLO! Sorry for the delay people but it's amazing what having people digging up the road outside your house can do to your mind. Not good for the concentration. If I get woken up one more day this week by a pneumatic drill I swear I will insert it up various orifices of the person using it.  
  
Anyways hope you like it. I've tonnes of reviews (by my standards anyways) and I'm really grateful, especially that they are all good ones.  
  
I've finished in the chemist now so it looks like I'll be updating more often (I was wondering if doing Pharmacy at uni means that I am doing potions? I think so, and Boots woman could well be the real life Snape).  
  
Right, I'm having a plug. Get on Amazon and buy The Lightening Seeds - Like You Do. Itsa fantastic album which I've been listening to all week and playing at a rediculus volume on my keyboard. You can get it for £1.99 and you won't be dsappointed. You'll probably know most of the songs from sports programmes and adverts. They did Three Lions but there other stuff is probably better. Go buy. 


	16. Born Slippy

Transfiguration had not changed at all, the work was the same, it was still shared with the Slytherins and even McGonagol was sitting at the front of the class, albeit with less lines on her face and brown hair scraped back in the usual tight bun instead of the grey the trio were accustomed to. Even her robes were exactly the same style as their 1996 counterparts. After an initial stern look and threat of detention, which Sirius expertly blagged away, the lesson commenced.  
  
The lesson finished with nothing of note occurring, they learnt the Fexiato spell, which causes the substance of an object to change so while it appears to retain its original appearance it is actually pliable. Harry and James switched back, although it had little effect on anything and in fact the majority of the class didn't notice. James couldn't believe he had been so stupid, the whole situation was a possible wind-up for a later date staring him in the face. James had always been depressed that he didn't have an identical twin; it would be the pranksters dream. Indeed when Ron was telling him about his brothers, Fred and George (who indecently idolised the marauders), James couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. Having someone who looked scarily like you opened the door to a wealth of pranks, and if only one was caught neither could be punished because most people would never be sure who actually committed the crime. James now had the ultimate prankster's accessory, and he wasn't going to waste the opportunity. Anyways, Harry needed a little laughter in his life by the sounds of it and what kind of father would he be if he didn't teach his son everything he knew? James continued to justify his corruption of his offspring all the way to lunch wondering what Lily would make of the whole situation.  
  
The plan for the main meal was in motion, everybody knew their parts, the invisibility cloaks were on standby and everyone had finished perfecting their parts of the prank. This was now personal, Snape had screwed over the Potters and their friends were not going to stand by and watch him get away scot-free.  
  
The meal started as always, large groups of people grabbing as much food as possible, the seventh year girls tutting in disgust at the first years and the boys as they piled their plates with food and started to scoff down the food in a style reminiscent of pigs at a feeding trough. All four tables where nigh on full, it had been a full day for almost all the years and it had taken its toll on the pupils. All of a sudden a shriek came up from the Slytherin table, everyone instantly turned round and the room fell into a deadly silence until a lone third year Ravenclaw started laughing. As if his laughter was infectious the whole hall started joining in, some of the students standing on their stools or running round to see what the commotion was about.  
  
It wasn't hard to spot, at the Slytherin table Severus Snape was sporting a rather large bright pink mohecan , if that wasn't classic comedy enough he started an impromptu version of 'John, I'm only dancing" while dancing on the table, strutting about in true glam rock style. Looking up at the staff table Harry noticed that even the teachers were struggling to suppress laughter, luckily Professor Noir was not there, Dumbledore was looking not at Snape like the rest of the hall, but directly at the marauders, a smile plain to see behind his white beard and his twinkling blue eyes, he knew it was them but it looked like he wouldn't be expelling the culprits anytime soon.  
  
Only the marauders knew the reason for this was a crowching James under the Slytherin table, completely covered by his invisibility cloak. The impromptu version of Top of the Pops meant that most people where too busy laughing to think of what was going on. Snape was giving it his all, Noddy Holder and Mark Bolan would no doubt be proud of his show.  
  
Eventually, after Snape started a striptease to the tune of "Mama, We're all Crazee now", Professor Flitwick decided that maybe he should put an end to Snapes humiliation. He lifted the singing and dancing charms in a matter of seconds and with apparently minimum effort, however he had greater problems dealing with the mohecan which looked destined to stay for a long time to come. Not even a traditional shave would remove it; it simply grew back double the size of before. Snape was unable to cope with the continuing laughter and after yelling a few harsh words towards the Gryffindor table he ran off, probably to the Slytherin common room away from the taunts.  
  
Harry leaned over to Sirius "What happened to the broomstick idea?" As much as Harry loved seeing his favourite professor sporting a hair do worthy of Tonks he had been looking forward to the possibility of Snape looking a pillock on a broomstick after it emerged that he was the Slytherin seeker for quidditch, and rather poor at it too. Seeing his future professor soaked to the bone after screwing up at something he represented his house at did have a certain charm for Harry, not least because he knew Professor Noir would give him stick in addition for making the house look bad. Sirius just replied simply, a subtle smile on his face "Can't have too much fun in one day, can we now Prongslet". Obviously this wasn't over; there was going to be another instalment.  
  
The group finally left the great hall and headed off to Gryffindor tower. If they were going to get accused of being involved in the teatime activities it would not be until morning, leaving a full night for fun and games before the almost inevitable detentions started coming their way. Harry hoped it wouldn't involve cleaning hospital bedpans or quills that left lasting scars.  
  
It was Sirius who suggested going to the room of requirement for some good old fashioned duelling. Remus and Lily agreed, if only for them to brush up on their skills when the inevitable attack occurred. The trio of course where used to this, it was like a miniaturized DA with the exception that this time everyone got on and it was highly unlikely anyone was going to grass on them. Maybe that wasn't true, the rat was there, but at least they could hex him this way and pretend it was all an accident.  
  
The room was set out exactly as it was for the DA, the same blue cushions on the floor and bookcases along the wall while on the opposite one the foe glass and sneakoscope could be found next to an assortment of interesting looking weaponry, which would have to wait until a later day to be used. Tonight would be about using your wand to the best possible effect. James was first to speak "I say me and Harry start with a little duel, just to see where we stand."  
  
Harry laughed at his father "Bring it, James"  
  
"I will do"  
  
Harry and James stood at opposite sides of the room, their wands held firmly in their right hands. After the niceties of bowing and addressing your opponent the duel began, Harry let James make the first move.  
  
"Stupefy" James yelled, Harry used his quidditch reflexes to calmly step out of the way, he knew he could walk this if he wanted to but something inside of him was holding back, he couldn't hurt his dad, he had waited so long to meet him it would be wrong.  
  
"Expelliarmus" Harry cried out, it wouldn't hurt anyone that spell, but unfortunately James had stopped it with a blocking spell and came back with a jelly legs curse that had no effect; Harry had successfully conjured a shield charm using protego. James was getting frustrated, usually he would have walked it by now but Harry was good, and he could tell his son was definitely holding back and he didn't want that. He wanted all or nothing. It was time to go out with the big guns; if he refused to hurt James surely he wouldn't mind taking it out on something he could transfigure. He would play to his own strengths; and James was the king of transfiguration.  
  
"Aspinatra!" James yelled, pointing his wand not at Harry but at one of the weapons behind him. James wasn't sure where he had learnt this spell, it was probably an obscure paragraph while looking up a prank, but he had always wanted to use it. The spell hit one of the axes on the back walls and immediately started wriggling and becoming green in colour; it untangled itself out of the holders on the wall and made it down to the floor.  
  
The snake started moving towards Harry, fangs bared it started to rise up but soon lost interest in Harry and made it's way over to Lily who was sitting on one of the cushions reading a book on counter-curses totally oblivious to the duelling boys next to her. 6 years in a boarding school had taught her how to cope with noise, and being near the maruaders usually meant after a while you could cope with anything. James looked panicked, he had visibly paled as he saw the snake move towards Lily, "Stupefy" he yelled, pointing his wand directly at the snake, it had no effect, the stunning spell must obviously not work on snakes, maybe it was only for humans, James couldn't remember. He tried a few more stunners, a reducto and finite incantarum but nothing worked.  
  
Harry looked at where the snake was heading, "Oi! Get away from my mother" he hissed at the snake. Everyone in the room looked at Harry at that moment in time, he knew why, he was speaking parseltonge again, partially accidently. He didn't think, he just wanted the thing to get away from his mother before it could cause any damage. The snake turned round and started returning towards Harry, yellow eyes staring straight into his.  
  
"And why would I do that?" It asked, Harry thought to himself, sod the parselmouth connection, the reason the snake is the symbol of Slytherin is probably because they are the same arrogant shites.  
  
"You would do that because otherwise I would hex you into oblivion, now leave before James over there destroys you". The snake looked directly at Harry but appeared to have no objections, Harry thought hard about an escape route from the room, maybe a pipe to the forest. Then he spotted a small hole in the wall, so did the snake as it disappeared from the room.  
  
The group, excluding Ron and Hermione, stared at Harry making him feel uncomfortable, they wouldn't know what he said but surely they'd trust him?  
  
"Your a parselmouth?" Asked Remus blandly, Harry was unsure weather this was because Remus was a tolerant person bearing in mind his condition or because he was in deep shock and calculating his next move.  
  
"Erm, yeah, comes in handy though. I just told that snake to piss off and it did so, it was a cocky ghet though". The marauders where still staring, mouths slightly open.  
  
"Oi, you lot, Harry isn't evil if that's what you are thinking." Ron jumped to his friends defence, "last time I know he used parsletongue he saved my sister in the process."  
  
Remus finally said something "Well, I am not going to hold it against you, I just find it fascinating you can speak it, most people will never hear it in their lives."  
  
Harry smiled "I didn't know it was a big deal until second year, I discovered I could do it by accident. I set a boa constrictor on my cousin at the zoo by accident."  
  
Sirius laughed "So, let me get this straight, you can talk to snakes and they tend to obey you?"  
  
Harry shrugged "I don't know, I haven't come across enough snakes to know if they always obey, I've only spoken to three".  
  
Hermione choose this moment to provide the relevant information, she was sat on the floor next to Lily reading a dusty old leather bound book. "You will be able to Harry, you speak the language and the nature of the snake is to obey whoever speaks to them." She didn't even look up as she said this, nothing would surprise her anymore.  
  
"So, which one of you 2 can speak it" Peter asked, staring between Lily and James. It was the first time he had joined in a conversation in ages, he could pick up on the hostility against him and didn't want to provoke any more violence from Ron.  
  
"Well, it isn't me, I'm a muggle born, so it must be you James" Lily said in a tone of voice trying to work it out. Parseltongue was a rare gift but hereditory, if she hadn't got it James must have, but she was sure that it would have emerged before now if he could. Harry answered the question though.  
  
"Neither of them. I don't want to go into it though, I got it by accident."  
  
No one objected to leaving this topic of conversation well alone, Harry was obvious feeling awkward about it. The group taught each other a few more hexes, the trio taught the marauders the cutting curse, a silencing charm (if your opposition can't speak they can't perform most sorts of magic) and a rather complex illusion charm Hermione picked up, by the end only Lily had learnt all three. The rat had learnt none. In return the Marauders' taught the time travellers some decent spells for pranks, including one to make trousers see through, another which would make the person speak exactly what they were thinking at that moment in time and a little charm which meant the victim would be unable to pick anything up or touch anything. It was the magical equivalent in covering them in grease. The trio paid particular attention to the latter 2, they could be handy in a duel.  
  
The group continued until ridiculously late on in the night, well past curfew. They had to sneak through he corridors without the cloak (it was a squeeze with just the trio, there would be no way to get all 8 under it), using only the map to help them avoid prowling members of staff. When they finally got to Gryffindor tower they all went straight to bed.  
  
Most of the group fell straight asleep upon reaching their beds, with the exception of three. James was secretly gloating to himself about how great his kid was a defence while Peter was nursing the cuts from the number of times he got cut by rogue curses in the course of the night, this made Sirius wonder. The red-headed boy's reaction to him when they first walked in and now this. Ok, Peter was clumsy, but not clumsy enough to lose a pint of blood from a little duelling session between friends. Even Lily and James were being significantly colder to him since the trio arrived on the scene. There was something he wasn't being told and this thought infuriated him. Everyone who had been to the future, and Lily too for some reason, showed dislike towards the weakling Peter. Sirius noted this down in the back of his mind for future reference.

* * *

Hello!  
  
And welcome to chapter 16. Just a few notes  
  
I'm buzzing about the reviews, cheers y'all. ViviBlack, you are sorted.  
  
I will update as soon as I can, but to manage that I will have to survive past today. The family are coming back from Ibiza and I've got explain how in the space of a week I flooded the house, caused the electrics to crackle, knakered a good few floorboards, turned grilling sausages into a flame thrower and somehow managed to make my sisters school uniform grow mildew...this could be interesting. Has anyone got a spare bedroom so I don't have to face them? They are not due back for an hour; I can escape...(shit) 


	17. Silverware

It was destined to be a dirty affair. Last game of the season, winner takes all and just to make it that bit better it was between the bitter rivals of Slytherin and Gryffindor. No other combination could lead to worse inter-house relationships. Slytherin where hated in the same way Man United are in football, they were absolutely despised by all but their own. Therefore it wasn't just about the red and green houses, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff where also dragged into the fray as no liked to see Slytherin win, with the exceptions of the Slytherins themselves. Another reason the comparison with Manchester United is valid is because the Slytherins were also cheating scumbags who would try anything to gain silverware, weather or not it was moral or even legal.

The Gryffindors weren't worried, they had the strongest team inyears and their egos wouldn't let them even contemplate the thought of failure; unfortunately the same applied to the Slytherins. Their goalie, Emma Greenhalgh was, to most peoples disgust, damn good. All season she had only conceded 2 goals and both of them had been the result of penalties; on the other hand Gryffindor had 3 fantastic chasers. James himself was aiming to break the record for most goals in a single season, he needed 97 to claim the title, and he currently stood on 82. The other chasers were Nicky Hunt and Kevin Nolan, the latter was still buzzing after securing a first team place at the Appleby Arrows in August, just after finishing his seventh year. It was Kevin's record James was trying to beat, it was set last year but this year Kevin had to miss the first match of the season so was only on a relatively poor 37 goals. That was still the kind of score most people would be envious of (especially after only playing in one match) but a source of great shame for Kevin. Every one favoured Nicky to follow him into professional quidditch in a few years time, but currently he was only 15 and despite being over shadowed by his team-mates he just kept getting better and better. People were already betting that he would have a place on the England team by seventh year, and the odds were not all that long either.

Slytherin's weakness had to be Snape as seeker, he had only caught the snitch twice in the past three years, unfortunately one of them was in the last match meaning Slytherin were still in the running and with Emma in goal nothing was for certain. Without a doubt Jay Jay Okotcha would almost certainly catch the snitch before Snape. Maybe if the slimy future potions master actually invested in a bobble he would have a better chance of seeing the snitch and maybe even catching it as a result.

The beaters for both sides were built like brick shithouses; even Sirius looked imposing in his pre-Azkaban days. The Slytherins had 2 dull stupid looking blokes who were obviously going to be bouncers, or whatever the wizarding equivalent was. Alex King and Ben Tattersall where imposing to say the least, each standing over 6"3'. The main threat came not from the bludgers but from them losing it and throwing their clubs at people, if it wasn't for them Emma would have kept a clean sheet so far this season. When angry they were a liability, giving away penalties like there's no tomorrow. James had clocked this and if the game was getting dull might have a little fun. Sirius was Sirius, enough said on the subject really. Harry knew for certain he wouldn't like to be on the receiving end of a bludger from him, his fellow beater was called Stelios Giannakopolous, a name which was great fun to try and put onto banners. Along with the Gryffindor keeper Jussi Jaaskalienan the commentator had a hard time, frequently giving up and getting on first name terms.

James found it hilarious, 2 of the longest and most obscure sounding names to ever come through Hogworts and they find themselves on the same team at the same time. Harry was unable to say Stelios' name unless it was to the tune of Go West by The Pet Shop Boys, a song not even released in the 70s yet being used as a chant in Hogworts thanks to the trio.

The Slytherin chasers were nothing to write home about, the whole team was being carried by one girl. Otis Roscow, Nathanial Clarke-Collins and James Parr were the remaining three members of the team. Unfortunately not even the marauder's would prank the little blonde keeper, they refused to say whether it was because they stood by the old "I won't fight a girl" stance, because they didn't want to get caught and banned from quidditch or (and this was most likely in Harry's opinion) because they wanted to run it in the Slytherins faces when, and there was no doubt in the marauders mind that they would, win. Beating the team at full strength would mean the Slytherin's would have to admit true defeat and couldn't rant about weakened sides. Actually any side that included Snape could immediately be seen as weakened in Harry's opinion.

Both teams were being followed by crowds of people trying to prevent last minute nobbling, and if the teams crossed on the corridors there was a lot of snarling and throwing of sarcastic comments to each other. The build up peaked the night before the match. Nolan was the captain, and cast in the same mould as Oliver Wood. He sat in a corner with a quill and parchment working out possible strategies and marking down last minute comments. He insisted everyone, weather or not in the team were in bed by 8pm for the pure reason that his players needed their rest and no one would be allowed to disturb them. No one wanted to get on the wrong side of this boy, a boy who got 370 points in the last quidditch match yet was deeply disappointed with his performance. He kept calling in the dorms every 15 minutes just to check there were no parties going on, and for once even the marauders were being quiet.

James was lying in his bed, staring straight ahead into the darkness, only just able to make out the outline of the bed next to him. He was damn scared in case there was a swap during the match. Harry would be wearing normal robes so if there was a change it would look odd as James robes changed colour. Usually it didn't matter, black Gryffindor robes were almost identical but now it would matter, it had the benefit of meaning each boy was always with their right wand and prescription strength glasses but now it might pose a problem. In theory Harry could just wear quidditch robes too but James was a damn good chaser, Harry was a damn good seeker; they had never really played in each others positions meaning that if they changed during the course of the match they might as well give the cup to Slytherin straight away. The only other option would be to get Harry to play seeker so if there was a change they call a time-out and swap positions. That was the logical answer but it wouldn't happen, no way would Kevin Nolan throw his plans away, Jay Jay would be playing seeker and there would be no way around it. The closest they could get would be to appoint Harry as a reserve which would almost certainly be as much use as a chocolate teapot, Okotcha wouldn't get himself injured today. It was too important.

Eventually James fell asleep, even though it was so light he fidgeted and kept waking up. At 5am when his charmed alarm (so only could hear it) went off he truly felt like he had had no sleep. This wasn't unusual although he did feel slightly groggier than normal. Determined about the job in hand though he got himself out of bed and started his usual pre-quidditch ritual which consisted of a 20 minute shower using his green shower gel and washing his hair twice with Vosene. Then he would use his blue towel and dry himself off, sit on his bed and say a little prayer, even though he didn't know if he believed in god.

James always wore the same things for quidditch, a pair of white pants, black ankle socks, a long red tee-shirt under which lay a gold necklace given to him by his mum. James always flew with his wand, he had no idea why but it was always tucked in his pants. Then it was the standard scarlet quidditch robes and leather pads.

Once the dressing part was over James would go down to breakfast at precisely 6.15, sit at the end of the table and eat 2 slices of toast, one with strawberry jam and the other with marmalade, a glass of orange juice, a glass of milk and an apple. Then he would make his way to the pitch. James was pedantic about his ritual, he figured superstition couldn't hurt and it had worked so far.

This morning was slightly difference though; Harry must have been woken up by James at 5am. He went over to his dad. "Er, good luck."

James smiled, "I don't need it", secretly his insides were squirming and he felt rather nauseous but he would never admit to being nervous before a match, the marauders probably worked it out by his ritual but he would never say.

"You lie" Harry said simply "I've been there and done it and no way in memory of man are you not nervous, you're up at 5am for god's sake"

James laughed, before quickly shutting himself up, remembering the people around him. "Yeah, OK, I'm nervous but if you tell anyone I'm scared I will personally kill you, blood ties or no blood ties."

"I feel really sick until I get up there, but as soon as I'm flying I'm fine. I love it, wouldn't change it for anything."

"Yeah, well I'd feel fine if I was on that beast you have. Sirius did you proud purchasing that beauty" James said

Harry threw a small key to James "Use it if you want to, you've used it before I hear and there's still time to practise if you want."

"You serious?"

"Of course, I don't want Slytherin to win and I might as well give Snape a proper reason to hate me. If you want to use it it's there waiting for you."

"I'll do that, thanks". James broke into a smile and gave Harry a hug before getting the broom from his trunk, removing it he put it on his bed stood back and admired it, "That is a fantastic broom, look at it, the whole aerodynamics, the handle, everything."

"Now go and do good things with it." Harry said, "And if Sirius is right you better go and get your toast".

"Oh, yeah, see you in a bit". James said, leaving Harry and the sleeping boys in the silent dormitory. Firebolt in one hand, the other messing up his still damp hair he descended the stairs to the Great Hall and completed stage 3 of his preparations.

By 9am James was by the side of the quidditch pitch with the rest of the team, listening to the pre-match spiel. James didn't bother listening anymore and just let it wash over his head. He knew how important this was he didn't need the neurotic Nolan ramming it down his throat some more. James found himself praying again, well his eyes where closed, his hands together and he was saying "god" a lot while hoping against hope that he could stave off another swap.

James knew that he was in his main form, it was complicated but when Harry and James swapped when they were in different times they still spent most of their time in the right timeline, even though they were now both in the 70s if the trio had never travelled back they would be in the right places as of last night when it appeared the pair swapped over. James had awoken in Harry's bed, a different one to the one he fell asleep in, so that had to mean he would get away with the match. James just hoped luck was on his side.

The team walked out onto the pitch, and assembled themselves in the correct position for kick off. Kevin stood opposite Nathanial, a small black boy and Slytherin captain who looked murderous.

Professor Bennett was the referee, a teacher in Hufflepuff (but not the head of house) seemed like the closest to a neutral ref there was in the school. "I know this is futile but I would like a civilised game, I will punish if you start playing dirty. Now shake hands". Nolan grabbed Clarke-Collin's hand and let it go almost immediately as if it was contaminated with some obscure stinksap and with that the whistle blew and the ball were released.

"And it's Hunt with the quaffle- passed to Potter - oh that was close a nice swerve by Potter though to avoid Clarke-Collins.- And the quaffle is passed to Nolan - OUCH that must have hurt, a bludger sent by Tattersall and Parr gets the quaffle, shooting off to the other side of the pitch but James Potter is fast catching up, looks like he has a new broom there, never seen anything go so fast and he's on a level. - oh that was naughty, a little ram to the side but Potter gets the quaffle, passed to Nolan, of course captain of the Gryffindor side"

James watched around as the quaffle was played expertly between Hunt and Nolan, he zoomed forward with the idea of giving Greenhalgh a little bit of a hard time while Gryffindor could work at getting some silverware.

"And it's back to Nolan, looks like his aiming for the left hoop, Potter is occupying Greenhalgh at the far side, she's got a lot to do now. And it's a goal 10-0 Gryffindor, only the third goal conceded by the young Emma all season."

James hugged Nicky as the returned to the centre of the pitch again. James was half-listening to the commentary; whoever was commentating was doing a far too diplomatic job of it for his liking. Jay Jay was still circling above the game, Snivellus was, erm, on a broom although it looked like only just. James really couldn't believe such a crap player was on the team, he must have some incriminating photos of someone in a compromising position. Jussi had done nothing so far, hopefully it would stay that way.

"And the quaffle is back in play - bloody hell!" "MUSCAT!" "Sorry professor, but Slytherin keeper Greenhalgh just took a bludger to the face, too busy looking at the quaffle. She's back up although she appears to have busted her nose. Play continues, and it's Potter, straight down to the rings. That broom is quite something, I'd say it's probably 5 times faster than the Comet 260, maybe it's custom made" "MUSCAT!" "Sorry professor, anyways Potter is down the far end. Keeper Greenhalgh comes out, quick swerve by Potter and its the second goal in the second minute. 20-0 Gryffindor."

Greenhalgh should have easily have prevent James' goal, but she looked in a right mess, the bludger hadn't just got her nose but above her eye too, she was bleeding and the gooey liquid on her hands coupled with the blood going into her eyes were the reason she didn't make that save. Really she should be replaced or at least given a bandage. Not that James actually cared, if she was a mess it made it easier for him to get the required goals.

"And it's Roscow with a rare touch at the quaffle, darting down the pitch, nice avoidance of Black's bludger there, another swerve for its counterpart sent by Gyn - Gee - Gianka – Er - Stelios. No one there to block Roscow, Jussi makes attempts the starfish and stick, Roscow throws the quaffle a little low, and it's 20-10."

The game was going to be a damn site closer than James wanted; he could here the chants in the back ground, "STE-LI-OS GI-ANA-KOP-O-LOUS!" (the Gryffindors seemed rather impressed at their ability to say the tongue tier) and "GO, GO, GRYFFINDOR!". 75% of the crowd where behind them, but this looked like it was in for the long haul and the longer the match the greater the chance of Harry and James ending up in the brown smelly stuff. The stands where a mass of red and gold, almost reminiscent of a Christmas grotto, banners waved and pupils screamed chants at deafening volume. This time it mattered. James turned back to the centre and did a dive on The Firebolt, just to wake himself up a little.

"And the quaffle is taken by Hunt who tucks it under his arm, looks like he's going for a quick retaliation, and he gets it, no messing straight through the middle hoop. Greenhalgh appears to still be bleeding and having some difficulties. May be a substitution for the Slytherins soon if this continues. 30-10 Gryffindor, that was Hunt's 10th goal of the season, a player somewhat over shadowed by his team-mates at the moment."

The game continued in much the same way, Emma's face was still covered in blood but her goalkeeping ability had improved a little, currently the score was 200-170 to Gryffindor. James had equalled the record, all he needed was an extra goal and Nolan would love him and hate him at the exact same time. The snitch, which in all honesty was probably Gryffindor's best chance of winning at this moment in time, was absolutely nowhere to be seen. James didn't know how long they had been playing but he would have bet it was well over an hour, maybe even 2. The sunny day was becoming overcast and it looked like the game may totally change direction with a change in conditions.

Nolan called a time out, and the 2 teams gathered in groups at opposite sides of the pitch, "We knew this would be tough, but at least Greenhalgh is struggling. Jay-Jay, we need that snitch, you are a damn site better seeker than that pretender Slytherin have. Jussi, watch out for Roscow, he's a sneaky one he is and that's your weakness, you are underestimating him. Sod Parr, he's crap. Focus on the other 2. Chasers, don't lose possession as much, we are scoring all right but making stupid mistakes midfield. Sirius and Stelios, be evil little fuckers. Ok, let's get up there and get some silverware."

James would be lying if he didn't say he was knakered, but somehow the time out had tapped into some extra energy stores and he was now ready to kick some scaled arse. Back in position James realised it was starting spitting and the sky was an ominous shade of grey. Jay Jay had taken Nolan's words to heart and he was prowling around obviously looking for the snitch, Snape was clinging to his broom as if he thought he was going to fall off. Fantastic stuff.

Suddenly there was a blur of scarlet which was probably at one point Jay Jay, he was zooming straight ahead, leaving a petrified looking Snape behind him, arm outstretched everyone knew what was a few seconds away.

"And Okotcha has the snitch, less than 30 seconds after the time out, where did that come from. 350-170 to Gryffindor, who also win the cup. An excellent match I'm sure you'll agree in which James Potter equalled Kevin Nolan's most goals in one season with 97. What a way for the captain to sign off, winning the cup." James was only partially aware of what the commentator, Muscat? Was saying over the tannoy, he quickly flew down and joined the group celebration going on, muggle-born Nolan had a couple of big bottles of champagne which were being used to soak anyone within range, the team all lazily swigging out of the top when they got a chance. James thought the stuff tasted foul, but it was a celebration. Even MacGonagol didn't chastise them, a huge grin plastered across her face.

Collecting the cup was a fantastic, James had been up there twice before collecting it but this time it was hard fought for. He was so happy as he grabbed the cup and posed for the official photographs which would no doubt make their ways onto the walls around school along with some amusing comments. James didn't care, he thought not getting the record would hurt, but he was too worked up about winning the cup, he never thought it would be so difficult.

Eventually the party moved up into the Gryffindor common room, despite Nolan's prudishness the night before now that the match was over the party was in full swing and he was joining in. The Marauders and the trio where in one corner, swigging butterbeer straight out of the bottle now the somewhat limited alcohol supply had been sufficiently squirted about and generally pissing about. Stelios and Jussi where obviously trying to chat up some third year girls. Nicky Hunt, who was still rather quiet and innocent, sat in a big saggy chair by the fire, sufficiently chilled with an involuntary grin plastered across his face. Nolan and Okotcha where singing along to some music which couldn't actually be placed, someone must have worked out how to tap into a muggle radio station or there was a charm out there that not even Lily knew about, if someone had a wizarding wireless it would have been found out about and utilised before now. The party was an all-nighter, MacGonagol came in about every 20 minutes telling them to shut up, but no one did. Eventually everyone just fell asleep in the common room; the floor was littered with sleeping bodies, trodden in biscuits and butterbeer bottles. The house elves would definitely be having fun when they were all at breakfast the next day.

James fell asleep with a grin on his face, Lily lying on his shoulder. The arrival of the trio had definitely changed something, shame neither of the pair were aware of it yet.

* * *

Wahey! I'm still alive, regarding last months, erm, incidents my mum came out with the classic line "You should have left it flooding longer, then we could have had the hall done on the insurance, it needs decorating anyway." Isn't that technically fraud though? God bless my parents. Since then though both computers have broken (only one of them was my fault) and lappy is still in a dead heap after being eaten alive by a virus (that will teach me not to use virus protection on a uni network). BUT big computer will be fixed next week, lappy should have been fixed 2 weeks ago, just need a disc from Advent and after opening this computer up with a pair of tweezers I've managed to get it to partly work and I'll go to the library to upload it ASAP. Go me.

Updates will be more often now.

This chapter is dedicated to Nicola Wilson who is going working in Atlanta for 13 months. I'll miss you; don't use American-English or lose the accent. I think drinking age is 21 in the states and she's just had to spend a fortune on insurance because in the USA you have to pay for healthcare. Tourist brochures for the UK should include the line "We officially serve at 18 (unofficially at 12) and the NHS will sort you out when your liver finally packs in".

The Slytherin players are all people from my year at school. Nathanial got done for the murder of his dealer who was in the year above us and one of the Parr twins (either James or John) is also in Strangeways. Emma...was actually an all right lass, we just didn't see eye to eye on lots of things. Our year was used as the moderation for GCSE speaking exams in English, so everyone in the country who took English Language GCSE in 2000-2004 was compared to Emma. She's a real person who might have changed your life indirectly, scary, non?

The Gryffindor players are all Bolton Wanderers players. I'm sorry, I am weak. The chapter is in celebration of Bolton being top of the Premiership (Bolton are the real life Chuddley Cannons, this is a very rare occurrence).

I'm editing this in Ramsbottom library listening to Friends Reunited – The 90s on CD. It's an absolutely fantastic album. I'm dancing about in my seat and I don't care. It's all warm and sunny and I am happy. Go on Amazon and buy the album and you to can dance about the library.

Hope you like the chapter; please review and I will love you forever. :)

Kimmiijay Kotchanski


	18. Under the Willow Tree

The quidditch match had been a nice little blip in the otherwise hectic couple of weeks the group had experienced, for the duration of the hype the group where back to being normal teenagers with no time travelling getting in their way or evil lords on their back. Even recent revelations such as Harry being a parslemouth and Lily being his mum seemed positively insignificant in all the interhouse rivalry and its associated hysteria.

Now the fever was starting to subside and the gravity of the situation hit the group in the face with the same amount of force as a well swung wet mackerel. This was a temporary situation, one which would almost certainly mean painful goodbyes at the end of it, no matter how they occurred. The group as well as being family in both blood and feelings had close friendships. It was a cruel scenario, but one which they would have to live with. They were in too far now.

It was a Thursday, a dull one at that. No matter how long they sat at the end of the Gryffindor table in the almost empty great hall it wouldn't alter the fact that they would eventually have to face a normal day with all their extra worries. The trio were relatively used to this feeling, the feeling of impending battle, but the added inevitable goodbyes and the presence of 5 people totally unused to it made the feeling of the day heavy.

Piles of half eaten toasts and soggy breakfast cereals which had been left too long sat in front of the group, no one actually speaking until Ron dared to break the silence.

"Come on, lets get going, we got transfiguration next and McGonagall scares me when she angry." Talk about stating the obvious. Professor McGonagall had always been a very strict teacher but the group were starting to realise it was with good reason; her subject was becoming increasingly dangerous now they had started with human transfiguration.

The group almost ran all the way to the transfiguration classroom, determined to get their usual seats before Snape could sit in them just to wind them up. The contested seats where at the back of the classroom next to the door, then the boys could hide and make a hasty retreat but the seats where under the shelves of textbooks which the girls could look through when they no doubt finished early.

The class were already sat down by the time the trio arrived, but by some lucky coincidence Professor McGonagall wasn't. Harry couldn't deny that he was more than a little surprised that Snape hadn't made an effort to sit at the back, maybe he wasn't quite as spiteful in days gone by. The lack of a stern teacher or a tabby cat (her animagus form) on her slightly raised desk at the front suggested she too was running late. A total novel and unusual situation, who would have supposed that McGonagall was actually human? The rest of the class were all paying attention to the board which had some work written on it, it took the group a while to recognise this fact and divert their attention to it.

_Period 1 - June 24th - 6S and 6G_

_Work set for Professor McGonagall and to be completed for next lesson._

_1) Using Advanced Transfiguration (pg 154-216) write an essay on the animagus transformation and how it can be achieved. The essay should be over 3 rolls of parchment for a good grade. Ensure to include a bibliography and refer to your sources. _

_2) Using school records, ask Madame Pince if unsure where these are, name all animagi registered in the past century_

_EXTENSION WORK: Write a short essay (approx. 1000 words) on what can go wrong with the transformation and list case studies, stating where each person made their mistakes._

_Anyone not completing 1 and 2 will be in detention next Monday, Wednesday and Friday._

_Please sign the sheet on the front of the desk, you may then leave. This room will be available for those wanting to use it until the start of next period._

Not only had the group got away with a late arrival but the lesson had been cancelled for the seemingly first time ever, usually if McGonagall couldn't make a lesson a cover teacher was found for it, usually a bitter teacher at that for being called in at short notice or having to sacrifice one of their sacred free periods. And for an added bonus the work set should be easy with the presence of the Marauders. The mood of the day was already lightening. Maybe things would go their way after all.

"Look, it's a fantastic day. Let's go outside and finish this work" Lily said, throwing her books into her bag and walking to the door.

"The first bit sounds like a plan but working? I think not, I'll be doing mine at breakfast before it's due in if it's all the same to you" scoffed Sirius, following Lily's example of packing away but with much less grace.

"Your loss" Lily said, slightly sarcastically. As she made her way from the room, followed by the boys who seemed to be under the mistaken impression staying in their one minute longer than absolutely necessary would be utterly detrimental to their health.

It seemed to take under thirty seconds for the group to have relocated to the edge of the lake, underneath a particularly large horse chestnut tree which lurched at a 45 angle. Lily and Hermione were lying flat out across the grass, large textbooks open in front of them, and obviously making a start on the essay. In all fairness the Marauder's had already done the leg work on this one but Lily still thought they were being highly irresponsible leaving it so late. However, they had got away with it countless times before and there was no indication on why this time would be any different.

"What do you recon will happen now?" Peter said, totally out of the blue. Everyone knew what he was referring to; it is what had been dominating their minds for some time. 4 best friends, one girlfriend and one time travelling trio with a big bad on their backs. It was a lot to think about.

"Regarding?" Remus said, it was just for clarification and really a totally unnecessary question.

"Everything" Came the simple reply

"I don't know" James said, honestly. They were still no closer to sorting out the random switches although true to Dumbledore's words, the whole issue had become much less complicated since they were in the same time line but eventually the trio would have to go home. Voldemort on the other hand was much trickier; they would probably have to wait for him to make the first move.

"I don't know what he is up to, maybe this was a con, he's done it before. He broke through the occlumency and gave me a fake vision." Harry said, overly hopeful in his voice, he obviously didn't believe it.

"No way, he wouldn't have known about the swaps anyway, do you believe in fate and destiny and all that? Everything happens for a reason? Maybe that's why you drank the dodgy potion so you could tell people they were in danger. Maybe that's why you got the vision, because James was in the future and he won't be any good at occlumency because he has never been trained in it, let alone used it." Lily said.

"That's too deep for my liking" Sirius retorted, "Far too complex, fact is we don't know. But I know one thing, if death tries and comes anywhere near me I'll rip his nipples off"

This comment warranted a glare from everyone else, trust Sirius. He had absolutely no sense of occasion.

"Well, what are we going to do, run scared and let the bastard ruin our lives or are we going to carry on and face it when it happens? If we live in fear he's won and I am not having that." Sirius finished. The speech wasn't put in the most tasteful way but it had valid points. Should the trio refuse to go shopping in case the IRA decided to put a bomb in a bin like they did in Manchester that very summer? No, they shouldn't. This was the same thing, albeit on a much more personal level.

"Listen carefully Sirius, I am highly unlikely ever to say this again. I agree with you" Lily said as Sirius mocked bowed.

"So we continue as is?" Peter piped up

"Life's too short not to" Harry finished.

* * *

Ellsha - wahey, the good old NHS with its added MRSA and waiting lists. Got to admit your right on that one, and as someone who spends her days in the QMC in Nottingham I can understand that exactly.

lotheledn - Ah, Celtic. Bolton get loads of players from them and in turn sell them (I cried for ages when Andy Walker left.) Personally though I'm a Rangers lass although I couldn't name one of the players (I'm a proddy). Man U? spits. I'm, a Bolton fan through and through and it's in the contract thou shall hate Man U. I love living where I live because if you go to Manchester on a match day it's full of southerners who can't find the stadium (you'd think the tram stop called Old Trafford might provide a clue, non?).

How was St Andrews, a few of my friends are doing medicine there, sounds really cool although supposedly it's murder to find a job because St Andrew's is tiny. I'm at Nottingham and I love it there.

Wytil - I didn't understand the phrasing of the post but I would like to know what you mean. (Don't take this as standoff-ish I legitimately don't understand your post but it seemed like a decent piece of criticism)

Welcome to a thinly veiled political rant. I was looking through the books and realised there are a lot of parrells with things that actually happened around the same time. Euro 96 and THAT defeat against the Germans (Gareth Southgate, the whole of England is with you ect, ect, ect). Well I don't know if anyone remembers this but that was also the same year the IRA broke their ceasefire, and on the day England played Scotland at Old Trafford in that competition some sadistic bastard planted the biggest bomb Europe has ever seen in the middle of our shopping centre. But the Lancastrian feeling pulled through again and we built our town better than before, not letting the bastards get us down. That's why I've done this chapter.


	19. Wake up call

The room positively vibrated with the number of decibels which were emitted from Sirius' mouth.

On instinct Harry and Ron shot up and instantly grabbed their wands, they had had too many scares not to be prepared for this kind of eventuality. The room was dark, too dark for Harry to see anything, especially without his glasses. A quick lumos temporally rectified the situation, although the bright light hurt Harry's eyes and he was forced to close them, knowing he was leaving himself open to attack.

The marauders didn't seem so worried.

"Maybe you should yell a little louder in future, I think someone in China missed that one" Remus mumbled from under his bedcover, obviously still trying to blot out the world while not missing the opportunity to utilise his sarcasm. He really should have known better.

"SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!" Yelled Sirius for the second time, obviously proving a point, whatever Harry and Ron initially thought this was it obviously wasn't. From the stories of the trouble the marauders got themselves into this was almost certainly nothing in comparison.

"Do we get an explanation" Ron ventured, you could tell he must have been worried, petrified in fact, otherwise he would have rolled over and gone back to sleep by this point. Peter, by comparison appeared to still be asleep. Some things may never change but in all honesty Harry couldn't really blame him, six years of this being a regular occurrence quite probably built up your tolerance levels.

"Some little poo-poo-head decided it would be humorous to give me an early morning shower, now I hope the culprit will revel themselves before a full prank war will develop."

Sirius was right, he was soaked to the bone, his clothing sticking to his skin and his long black hair clumped together like rat's tales, the slight shaking as he got up out of his bed suggested that the temperature of the water was not exactly favourable at that.

No one needed to say anything, James' raucous laughter from the other side of the room told them all they needed to know.

"Your dead Potter" Sirius said in sinister tones, albeit with a huge grin plastered across his face, it was obvious he was abusing sarcasm. In all fairness he hadn't quite got it down to the find art the Slytherins had managed. Maybe that was a good thing.

The conversation of the day before had cleared the air, the depression had been semi-lifted and even if normal service hadn't been entirely resumed at least the group were not walking round in quite so much of a depression as they were before. Brooding got you no where.

The early morning wake up call had obviously stimulated the group, all of whom were now sat upright in bed, with the exception of Sirius who was too busy shaking his head wildly about to wet James in the same way as a dog drying itself off after a bath.

The water went everywhere, even spraying Harry who was at the other side of the room, not that it mattered too much the room was a sufficient mess for the water damage not to be noticeable. The boys lived like true students with their trunks open and half of the stuff falling out of them an under 10 of the floor visible underneath the piles of clothes and discarded transfiguration essays. Hermione would have a fit if she saw the state of the room. Even Remus, by far the tidiest and most organised of the group, hadn't made his bed in well over a week.

"Well, now that we are up, I guess getting ready for potions would be a good start" Remus said. The remainder of the group groaned.

"But Gander is a bloody sadist, she only gave me a Satisfactory for the appearance of my last potion because I got some on the rim of the bottle. I so wanted to shove it up her anus" Sirius spat out.

"We got Snape, your lucky. Anyway, she didn't seem too bad." Ron said, Harry's mouth practically hit the floor as he heard Ron sticking up for a teacher. He must REALLY like Hermione, she was obviously rubbing off on him. Of course neither pair would admit to it, but even James and Lily wouldn't and they were 100 unofficially an item now. Things had changed so much in a short period of time, unfortunately the only 2 who couldn't see it were Lily and James themselves.

"Well, Sirius, if you don't want to get on her bad side I recommend you get a move on, she's only bad if you give her a reason to be. Just pity the next generation – Snape indeed." Remus said. He had already collected his stuff and was making his way to the bathroom at that moment. Everyone else seemed to be making the most of the state of denial they were in.

"OK, I'll enjoy rubbing it in next Monday when I have 2 hours of relaxing while you have 2 hours of detention." Remus said

"No dear, part one next Monday is the first day of the holiday – so no detention. Secondly next Monday is a full moon." James said cheeky grin almost instantly wiped off his face by a random object being thrown from the bathroom by Remus, it emerged only to be a wet flannel.

"You ghet" Came from the bathroom.

"Whatever" was shouted back, in exactly the same sarcastic tones. These boys knew each other too well.

It took the group a good hour to get themselves sorted for potions, but by pure fluke they had got away with it for the second time in one week. Nice to know that occasionally luck was on their side. Lily and Hermione were already sitting at the front of class and had rather kindly saved a row of seats for the boys, who arrived a full 10 seconds before their professor. When the sat down Peter was still panting from having to run all the way from the dining hall were he had most definitely eaten one too many pieces of toast and was quickly developing a green tinge to his red sweaty face.

Professor Gander stood by the side of her raised glass and opened all the windows in the lab with her wand, instantly flooding the room with light and making it look a lot less dingy.

"Right class, today we are having an assessed practical. And before you start to groan I did warn you at the beginning of the year you would be having one. Formularies are on the front desk, distillation equipment at the back of the class, other equipment in their usual places and the store is stocked with everything you need. You will work individually and I do not want to hear a single word from anyone in this class. Your task is to formulate a potion for the treatment of eczema in children, you have 2 hours to do it in but you are not allowed to use any FastBrew in your method. You may choose the potion you think most appropriate, easiest or quickest but you will have to justify your choice. Good luck"

The trio looked at each other and decided just to play it straight, they had no preparation for this but they definitely did not fancy the consequences of an angry Professor Gander on their back. Accounts from those who had experienced her wrath suggested it would be a less then pleasant experience. The incident with the verituserum was bad enough, anyway, Hermione would never go against a teacher without good reason.

The class dragged, every minutes seemed like an hour. Hermione had chosen a rather complex looking lotion and little bottles containing all sorts were lined up on her desk, for glittering red powders (Pot Sparks) to deep black ball bearing sized stones (Blacksip). Ron appeared to have gone for the easiest thing he could manage, a cream of some nature that basically involved smearing a yellow powder into a white greasy base. Harry chose Arrehnius paste. He'd made it before and it had gone all right then. Best to stick with what you know, even in Harry's case this would probably be E45 cream.

About 45 minutes into the class a loud bang behind Harry had him reach for his wand for the second time in the morning. The room was covered in a thick yellow smoke which stunk of burnt sugar, as the gas diffused it became apparent the source of the commotion. The maurders bench was covered in a bubbling think gunge which appeared to be consuming everything in reach, they definitely wouldn't be getting an exceeds expectations for this class.

"Which one of you added the FastBrew" Said professor Gander, glaring at the tight group in the back left hand corner, her voice in a state of forced calm, the kind of tone people use when they are past angry. A stony silence greeted her question.

"If you don't say which one of you added the Fast Brew all 9 of you will be punished" Professor Gander said again, Hermione's mouth immediately dropped to protest but a look from Ron shut her up promptly, Lily however wasn't so restrained.

"9 of us? The rest of us were doing just fine, it was just one of these 4 imbeciles" She screamed.

"Miss Evans, you have just guaranteed yourself a detention for showing such disrespect to a teacher, how dare you speak to me like that. As no one is admitting to it I will see you in detention tomorrow night at nine till midnight. You will all fail this assessment. Now GET OUT OF MY CLASSROOM"

Without further ado the group ran out of the class, grabbing their equipment and not even bothering to put it in their bags.

Outside the door Lily slapped James across the face, "I don't know which one of you pillocks did that, but I had something planned for tomorrow night and now you've screwed it up. We got kicked out of a class for god's sake!"

James took a step back, glaring warily at his future wife, probably out of fear of more physical violence. Wasn't it a well known theory – never get on the wrong side of a red heads temper? "Calm down, it's only one detention" he said gingerly.

"One bloody detention, is that what you get hanging round with you lot? We didn't even do anything but we get the fucking flak. That one class was worth 30 of our year mark and you screwed it up." Lily was fuming, her face was fast turning the colour of her hair and every word was said with true venom.

"I hate you Potter, now leave me alone" And with that she turned, threw her bag over her shoulder and stomped down the corridor, "Don't even look at me in future, I am no longer interested." She yelled back to the stunned group still standing at the door to the potions class.

"I hate you"

* * *

Sorry about the delay, Kimmii is back at uni so had all the fuss of moving out ect and my timetable is chocka at the moment (www.nottingham.ac.uk/timetable, I'm a second year M Pharm student, have a look for yourself.) So, I'm sorry, but on the plus side I got to play with ecoli on Wednesday and look like a proper scientist with my petri dishes.

OK, what houses are you lot all in at school? And what were they like?

Our primary school houses were random, I was in the red house (Lowry) and we never won anything, but at least we weren't bottom unlike the green one (Bronte) we also had Wordsworth (yellow) and Peel (Blue).

Now high school houses were better. I was in Kay which was were all the drama queens ended up, we always won interhouse drama and rugby (we were a rough lot). The other houses were Ashton, Calrowse, Grant, Hoyle and Peel. They all had colours too but I can only remember mine was green, Hoyle was blue and Peel white.

**_PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW MY OTHER STORIES_**

**__**

**_THANK YOU :)_**


	20. Between the dusty stacks

Three long days had passed since Sirius decided to play the fool and for only the second time in his life James questioned his loyalty towards his best friend. James hated the feeling, torn between his partner in crime for six of the best years in his life and his future wife. A girl he had only got to know in the past couple of weeks and yet one that he knew for certain would feature prevalently in his life.

But Sirius had always been there, he was a constant feature in a less-than-boring school life. The pair gave as much as they got, Sirius had saved James' neck just as many times as the opposite had been true. His honouree brother would always be by his side, and his small glimpse into the future had proven that. As much as he hated to admit it James' couldn't swear down that he would give up what Sirius had given up, all for his best friend. If he hadn't have swapped secret keeper, if he hadn't have gone looking for revenge, if he had have told. But he didn't. He gave up his life for his best friend, and then lost it for good to protect his offspring. That was a damn site more than friendship, it was true loyalty. When they first became animaguses, the four of them, they all wondered why it was that particular animal. James and Sirius were happy enough but Peter was less than amused with his small stature, although he soon forgot about that once he had the job to get them into the whomping willow. Peter was a rat, and with hindsight that one was self-explanatory; James was a stag standing tall and proud – maybe a little too proud at this moment in time but Sirius was a dog. A man's best friend, the most loyal of creatures and it shined through so clearly, like a lighthouse on a very foggy day.

And yet James currently doubted it all for Lily Evans, the stuck up know-it-all who had made it crystal clear what she thought of pranks and disruption from day one. The same Lily Evans who hadn't even bothered to say "Hello" when they passed on the draughty Hogwort's corridors for over 5 solid years.

But despite all of that it didn't alter the fact that at this moment in time James was staring into the mirror of the boy's bathroom wondering just how much he had screwed up his life. Things had come full circle; he was back to where it started physically, back in the boys dorms of Gryffindor tower, and more importantly regarding Lily. He had returned to his previous friendship with Sirius as if he had never accused him of his own murder. Lily wouldn't spare him a second glance and he didn't have a clue what was going on. The whole situation was going around in ever decreasing circles.

Lily refused to even make eye contact now with James, in her opinion he had shown exactly where his loyalties lay. The room would suffer a definite drop in temperature when the pair where near each other and some of the evil which were shot the way of the Marauders would probably have resulted in them being six feet under.

What made it worse was that Lily's animosity only covered the four marauders, she had quickly and correctly deduced that the trio would have had nothing to do with it and unfortunately for them they were now official go betweens for the warring fractions.

James couldn't help but admit it must be hard for them, especially Harry. For him it would probably be like being caught in the middle of a divorce with teenage hormones. Throw in a son the same age of them into the equation and you had the current situation but the fact remained, James was still a school pupil, he had neither the experience nor the maturity to be forced into playing happy families. OK, so it was no one's fault apart from their beloved Snape but it was hard for everyone; not just those who weren't scheduled to be born for another four years.

Splashing ice cold water onto his face James decided to make a resolution, he would collar Lily and tell her straight. The stinging pain of the ice cold water (now running from the tap for a good five minutes) slapping against his cheeks somehow had brought him back to his senses. He wasn't exactly the soppy type but he must have fallen for her, there was no other excuse for it. Here he was staring at the mirror as if it would tell him the answers to his thoughts. OK, maybe that wasn't too unusual in the magical corridors of Hogworts but still, 3 days brooding. It had to be a record.

As if this epiphany couldn't be put on hold James rushed to get changed, throwing on a random assortment of clothes with only limited success. If James had thought about it would have probably have been a better idea to look nice when trying to proclaim your undying love for someone, well at least that you had a distinct crush. Running down the stairs, shoelaces untied and a total bed head along with soiled t shirt and tatty trollies James rushed to the library, always a fair bet on where to find Lily. Even if she wasn't there he might have been able to get some information from Hermione. Really she should just put her bed in the library and live there, Hermione appeared to be one of these people who didn't need sustenance or sunlight but a healthy chunk of yellowed parchment would suit her well.

Panting and out of breath, almost bent doubled with the stitch in his side James worked his way through the book stacks, peering through the gaps in the dusty volumes for a glimpse of red hair. It was through the gap in the bookshelves between "Mist mag tristle – Pharmacology; The muggles potions" and "Misty tales of muggle theology" that James saw Miss Evans.

He automatically felt sick, the confidence which usually oozed from him appeared to have chosen the worst time possible to desert him, there was an unpleasant throbbing in his throat and he felt a sudden desire to go to the lavatory. James was scared – petrified in fact. The odd thing about the recent evens was most of them where so big they had a surreal quality, you could almost dismiss them as flights of fancy but this was most definitely real. This was a part of everyday life James knew, even though he can't remember the last time having the desire to ask someone on a date and actually mean it, actually want that persons company and not just to exchange bodily fluids.

Taking a deep breath and ignoring the fact the room was spinning around him James made his way to the table Lily was sitting at and sat opposite her.

Her head was lowered into a book, she probably knew it was him as she made no attempt to engage eye contact or remove her sprawled out books and stationary which covered the desk. For the past three days Lily had avoided all contact with James, if they would pass each other no acknowledgement was made of his presence. To James this was harder than if she had just spat in his face. At least that way he would have got some reaction from her.

"Is it alright if I sit here?" James asked tentatively, noticing all too well that it was too late, he was already seated.

Lily just shrugged and mumbled something that sounded like "free country" under her breath, she still didn't lift her head up for the book and her bright red hair totally obscured her face.

"I'm sorry" James said, words alien to his lips, "It was just a joke and Sirius – well, he's been through a lot for me."

Eventually Lily looked up, her eyes where red with big black bags forming underneath them, she obviously hadn't been sleeping. She was blinking rapidly and her skin was so pale she looked anaemic. Deciding that starting a conversation with "Shit, you look awful" was probably a bad move James ignored Lily's somewhat dishevelled appearance.

"Lily..." James started but he was promptly interrupted.

"You shouldn't have done that, but I spoke to Gander and I'm doing an essay to replace it." Lily said, suddenly everything coming apparent on the lack of sleep front. She had obviously been set it already and was trying to do a good job on it.

"So, are we straight?" James asked, the invisible hand around his throat loosening its grip somewhat.

Lily broke eye contact immediately and started laughing, not in a humorous way but in a slightly hysterical manner. The type of laughter that suggested the individual concerned was thoroughly pissed off with the situation.

"You really don't get it, do you Potter?" She said, each word said as if it had been laced with bitter lemon.

"Sorry?" James asked bemused, his spirits noticeably sunk as Lily resorted back to last-name terms. He felt as if someone had just elbowed him in the stomach, worse than if he made a stupid mistake which resulted in the Slytherins getting an easy goal in quidditch or a prank in which someone unintentionally got hurt. It was that feeling of your stomach shaking hands with your Adam's apple. The feeling of sickness and dizziness, which may accompany delayed concussion.

"I said you don't get it. We most certainly are not straight." Lily repeated annoyance and anger coming through in her voice. "You can't take anything seriously can you? Nothing is sacred? You just blew 30 of our year marks, you set a bad example for OUR child, you could have seriously hurt someone but you don't care, because covering up for your best mate means more to you than that. Face it, the most important thing in your life is self-preservation. You don't give a shit about anyone else, do you?"

James was flummoxed, he wouldn't deny that self-preservation was in fact one of his highest priorities. Friendship meant everything to him and to be honest he found it quite unbelievably selfish that Lily had basically given him the choice between the marauders and her. He was getting angry, he didn't care if he never saw Miss Evans again in his life, and he had just opened his mouth to say this when he found himself somewhere else completely. Sat next to Ron and Hermione in the great hall. The first noticeable swap for some time had just occurred and it was possibly the worst possible moment for it. James didn't care particularly, at least it saved him from him and Lily descending into a blatant row. For the time being he would just sit here and watch the world go by, hoping that Ron and Hermione weren't paying too much attention to their best friend's appearance.

* * *

Hello there! 

Seeing that people seemed surprised that houses exist I went on the internet and tried to find some pictures of our houses from high school. The only decent one I found was this one (cp into your browser), http:www.woodhey.bury.sch.uk/html/curric/pe/sd99/008.jpg Grant and their head of house, also my English teacher for four years and quite possibly the reason my writing is so warped. (Mr Brooke, you rock.)

And the teacher on the left is Mrs Gander (no prises for guessing which character I've based on her.) http:www.woodhey.bury.sch.uk/html/curric/pe/sd99/007.jpg In my honest opinion all maths teachers should be kept behind wire mesh at all times.

And just for you scared-of mime here are the lyrics of three lions 98, this got released after football came home, but someone parked an Audi over the driveway. (I've cut out the repeats to make it smaller)

(The crosses of St George are flying all around me)  
(Gareth Southgate the whole of England is with you)  
(Oh it's saved, saved, saved)

We still believe (x4) 

It's coming home  
It's coming home  
It's coming  
Football's coming home

Tears for heroes dressed in grey  
No plans for final day  
Stay in bed, drift away

It could have been all  
Songs in the street  
It was nearly complete  
It was nearly so sweet  
And now I'm singing

Three lions on a shirt  
Jules Rimet still gleaming  
No more years of hurt  
No more need for dreaming

Talk about football coming home  
And then one night in Rome  
We were strong, we had grown  
And now I see Ince ready for war  
Gazza good as before  
Shearer certain to score  
And Psycho screaming

(Beautiful football by England, Gazza oh that is majestic, Alan Shearer, Italy nil England nil and we're there in France 1998)

We can dance Nobby's dance  
We could dance it in France 


	21. Detention

Harry was staring at his golden plate, watching the brown viscous gravy bleed into the mound of creamy mashed potato stacked on his plate. The smells of a well made meal floated in the room like some divine perfume although they were so well known that Harry took them for granted, with the possible exception of the summer months at the Dursley residence where he would look back and treasure each memory of Hogwarts.

In the background Ron and Hermione were having a bickering session; Harry had given up on listening on these some time ago. They no longer had any purpose; along with most sixth year Gryffindors he realised it was only affection. Within 6 months the pair would be an official item, even though they wouldn't admit it yet.

Harry wasn't really paying too much attention to anything, it was registering but he was actively absorbing his surroundings. If anything he was bored. He wasn't going to waste anymore time panicking about the future, no matter how soon that may be.

Yet despite his apathy with the immediate environment he couldn't deny a subtle surprise when the surroundings changed around him. The smell of meat and gravy was promptly replaced with the salty, dusty odour of yellowed parchment and books long forgotten or ignored. The gentle chatter of the Great Hall interspersed with protests from either Ron or Hermione was replaced with the eerie silence of the library.

It had been such a long time since Harry and James were not either asleep or in the same place when they switched it came as quite a shock to the system. Instead of the mound of gradually dissolving mash he was looking down at a pile of books Hermione would be proud of and the current user of these literary aids was sat in the chair opposite him.

Lily Evans' red hair totally obscured her face, but that shade of auburn was unique in the school, or at least the members of the school Harry had bumped into. If she was aware she had company she wasn't giving anything away, after staring at her pulling her fingers through her hair while writing a paragraph on a piece of parchment hurriedly Harry decided to make a move.

"Lily?" He asked tentatively, his future mother made no effort to make eye contact. After a while she finally replied.

"James, just go away. You're not exactly helping your cause at this moment in time." She sounded truly fed up, as if she could no longer be bothered making the effort. It was quite obvious that she still hadn't forgiven James for the incident in the potions lab. Harry was torn between making an easy escape at this moment in time, pretending to be his dad or to come clean.

Seeing that he had already let slip nearly every major event he should probably been quiet about he decided to go for the latter, he was starting to lose track of lies and half-truths and if this experience had taught them anything it was probably that honesty was the best policy…even if it meant telling someone they only had 5 years to live. Actually, if Harry had his time again that wouldn't be his ideal plan, but circumstances conspired against him and resulting in him having little lea-way to pick and choose his facts.

"Sorry, wrong one" he said in an overly saccharine voice. His attempt at being laid back would probably almost certainly fail. Luckily for Harry it seemed that Lily had at least a minimal amount of maternal instinct, either that or she just preferred him to James. In fairness it was probably the latter.

She looked up, her skin pale and eyes dark. She had obviously been in the library since it opened, and there was a good chance she was working throughout the night too. Yet as soon as the identical green eyes locked she smiled, not a dazzling smile but one which was genuine all the same.

"Sorry, James was here and I just needed time to think without him in the frame. You OK?" She said with her voice husky from the obvious tiredness.

"Yeah, just wondered what you were up to. That's all." Harry said, wondering how he could break the awkward silence. It wasn't the most eloquent thing ever but it was a start. After all him and Lily had only know each other for about a month now.

"Oh, this lot" she said, gesturing to the pile of books covering ever spare inch of the desk, "it's a replacement essay for Gander to make up for them fools. 'Uses of polyjuice and its effects.'"

Harry couldn't help but laugh, getting him some unwanted glares from the librarian behind the desk. "Yeah, us 3 have personal experience in that one." But despite Lily's protests he refused to say more, even though he did help her with this essay to the point even Hermione would be proud of it, right down to it being bang on the word limit. Lily wasn't going to give Gander any more ammo. Thanks to James the professor had plenty to see her through the rest of Lily's school days. She would have to tread carefully now, James blew her chance for her.

"Come on Lily, I think we had better be going" Harry said as Lily finished writing her name at the top of the sheet of paper. The ink was still glistening as she put the used books back on the trolley and put her quills and parchment into her bag.

Now the pair had detention, for some reason which she never made clear Professor Gander had a seeming attack of the conscious and moved the detention. It was meant to be the day after the incident nine till midnight but it got moved. Maybe she realised that midnight was too late for a detention, maybe she had a date. Everyone decided not to push their luck and ask her. Anyway, 3 hours on a Saturday morning suited Lily better; at least it wouldn't affect her lessons the next day. On Monday when she had astronomy late at night at least they always had the next morning off, doing a detention and then having 9am Transfiguration was not favourable to Lily.

It didn't take long for the pair to get to the dungeons, where the rest of the detainees were located. The atmosphere was oddly tense. From what Harry had heard this was not a unique experience for the marauders and heaven knows that Harry and Ron had been in their fair share of detentions.

The group stood in silence, James and Sirius leaning against the walls, one foot on the stone leaning back totally relaxed but in silence. Peter was sitting on the floor, his knees right under his chin in a position which really couldn't be comfortable. Harry felt no sympathy. If he had his way he's kick the small boys ankles further towards the wall yet in the name of avoiding awkward questions he would say nothing. Remus was sitting on the stairs, book resting on his knee and his head resting on his hands. He wore an expression of pure boredom across his face; obviously the novelty of these situations had worn off. Lily and Hermione looked agitated, almost panicky; they were still getting accustomed to this. Harry and Ron didn't really care; it wasn't like they could get owls sent to their parents.

Still no one dared break the silence, and it seemed like forever until Professor Gander's high heeled black leather boots could be heard echoing down the corridor. James and Sirius immediately stood up straight, almost as if they were scared of getting caught scuffing the walls although this almost certainly wasn't the case. Maybe James was trying to impress his future wife, a thought which both warmed and terrified Harry in equal dosage.

Gander stood at the top of the stair almost ominously looking down on her temporary prisoners; she was wearing a thick black travelling cape with hood which was up over her head - a style which would never be one of Harry's favourites after the events in the graveyard during fourth year. At the Dursley's Harry even threw out the black hoodie he had inherited from his obese cousin as it reminded him too much of the deatheater robes.

"Ah, yes, of course. You may go in the lab. You will sit one per desk and start copying the line 'I am not better than the rest of the class' onto parchment. I will check that no charms have been used. I expect at least 100 lines by the time I get back in 10 minutes." She promptly turned around with military precision and left the teens to themselves.

"Result" Sirius chuckled while throwing himself down at a desk by the window, "100 lines, well practice makes perfect. I guess that's the first couple of minutes occupied." Sirius started writing at an alarming speed. Either he knew one hell of a charm which Gander didn't or he had relived this situation so many times he had developed quite the talent for lines.

Harry resigned himself to his fate and started copying out the line in the same way he had at primary school. He was surprised that he too had finished all 100 well within the allocated time and while Hermione and Lily seemed to continue all the boys stopped at precisely their century. Ron and Harry started talking, as did the four marauders but it wasn't long until the familiar clippie sound of wooden heels on stone floor were heard down the corridor and everyone in the room snapped back to their papers in total silence.

Gander entered the room and stood directly in front of her class staring at the rows of no-gooders. She took a deep breath and started a monologue.

"Now Miss Evans has completed some work for me, all about the polyjuice potion." She smiled a twisted contorted grin which sent shivers down the back of Harry's spine as if someone was tracing his backbone with a particularly long nail.

"It's a very interesting potion, I am sure you will agree." The group started looking towards each other, this was less like a detention and more like an extension class. The basic format for a detention in Hogwarts was either to clean up mess equal to that you have caused or for the teachers to waste your time in the same way you have wasted theirs. This fell under neither category. Harry shook off his doubts, a lot of things changed in a quarter of a century; maybe this was one of those things.

"The ability to look like anyone you desire, just one hair, one nail, one teardrop. That's all you need. Isn't that right Mr Potter?" Harry and James both nodded their heads uncertainly. To Harry it was almost as if she knew their antics, but that was impossible, they hadn't even happened yet.

She was scaring him now; the creepiness of Gander was even starting to outweigh the scariness of Snape or the strictness of McGonagall. She actually looked taller and thinner than she did at the beginning of the class, more imposing.

"The only problem is you need to top it up," Gander continued, an evil glint coming into her eye. Harry fingered his wand edgily by his side. It wouldn't be the first time a teacher had been out to get him.

"Of course it lacks originality" Gander continued, her face growing deathly pale, she turned her back on the group. Harry took that as a good sign, surely no one posing a threat would leave themselves open to attack, "it's been used countless times in the past. Individuals pretending to be people they are not. Maybe even an auror if someone wanted to totally evade detection and suspicion."

Gander walked to the bored and started to write something although she was totally blocking it, "Yes, polyjuice. It serves its purpose and that's all I'm after these days. Just need to sort out one little problem, and hopefully I will get some enjoyment out of my task."

Gander walked away from the board, and there, in the same was as they had been 4 years ago were the words "I am Lord Voldemort" burned into the blackboard.

* * *

Ey up kids, sorry about the delay. Hope you liked the chapter :)

I am going to explain the delay away, firstly my uni timetable is horrendous. Today we had 9-6 without so much as a lunch break. I was less than amused, and it is not even a one off.

Secondly I am a Guide (Girl Scout) leader and have been doing quite a bit with my packs. My first pack is for disabled girls so we need transport. Unfortunatly Nottingham City Council have increased the cost of this by 50 from £400 to £600, a price we just cannot afford. Then my other pack on Monday nights lost all their equipment and their meeting place after the church hall we meet in got arsoned twice in the same night, there is literally nothing left but four external walls - not even a roof. That really upset me, why are people so selfish? Whatever you try and do for the community there is always someone out to ruin it. Seriously though, everyone should try being a youth leader. I get so much out of it and most importantly it's fun.

Anyways, lets finish on a little bit of sarcasm. This was sent to me by a friend, it's directed to the citizens of the USA. It's highly tongue in cheek, please don't take it seriously. :)

In the light of your failure to elect a proper President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective today. Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchial duties over all states, commonwealths and other territories. Except Utah, which she does not fancy. Your new prime minister (The Right Honourable Tony Blair, MP for the 97.85 of you who have until now been unaware that there is a world outside your borders) will appoint a minister for America without the need for further elections. Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire will be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed. To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

1. You should look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary. Then look up "aluminium". Check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'favour' and 'neighbour', skipping the letter 'U' is nothing more than laziness on your part. Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters.You will end your love affair with the letter 'Z' (pronounced 'zed' not 'zee') and the suffix "ize" will be replaced by the suffix "ise". You will learn that the suffix 'burgh is pronounced 'burra' e.g. Edinburgh. You are welcome to respell Pittsburgh as 'Pittsberg' if you can't cope with correct pronunciation.  
Generally, you should raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. Look up "vocabulary". Using the same twenty seven words interspersed with filler noises such as "like" and "you know" is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. Look up "interspersed". There will be no more 'bleeps' in the Jerry Springer show. If you're not old enough to cope with bad language then you shouldn't have chat shows. When you learn to develop your vocabulary then you won't have to use bad language as often.

2. There is no such thing as "US English". We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take account of the reinstated letter 'u' and the elimination of "-ize".

3. You should learn to distinguish the English and Australian accents. It really isn't that hard. English accents are not limited to Cockney, upper-class twit or Mancunian (Daphne in Frasier).  
You will also have to learn how to understand regional accents - Scottish dramas such as "Taggart" will no longer be broadcast with subtitles. While we're talking about regions, you must learn that there is no such place as Devonshire in England. The name of the county is "Devon". If you persist in calling it Devonshire, all American States will become "shires" e.g. Texasshire, Floridashire, Louisianashire.

4. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as the good guys. Hollywood will be required to cast English actors to play English characters.  
British sit-coms such as "Men Behaving Badly" or "Red Dwarf" will not be re-cast and watered down for a wishy-washy American audience who can't cope with the humour of occasional political incorrectness.

5. You should relearn your original national anthem, "God Save The Queen", but only after fully carrying out task 1. We would not want you to get confused and give up half way through.

6. You should stop playing American "football". There is only one kind of football. What you refer to as American "football" is not a very good game. The 2.15 of you who are aware that there is a world outside your borders may have noticed that no one else plays "American" football. You will no longer be allowed to play it, and should instead play proper football. Initially, it would be best if you played with the girls. It is a difficult game.  
Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which is similar to American "football", but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like nancies). We are hoping to get together at least a US rugby sevens side by 2005.  
You should stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the 'World Series' for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.15 of you are aware that there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. Instead of baseball, you will be allowed to play a girls' game called "rounders" which is baseball without fancy team strip, oversized gloves, collector cards or hotdogs.

7. You should declare war on Quebec and France, using nuclear weapons if they give you any merde. The 97.85 of you who were not aware that there is a world outside your borders should count yourselves lucky. The Russians have never been the bad guys. "Merde" is French for "".

You will no longer be allowed to own or carry guns. You will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous in public than a vegetable peeler. Because we don't believe you are sensible enough to handle potentially dangerous items, you will require a permit if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

8. July 4th is no longer a public holiday. November 2nd will be a new national holiday, but only in England. It will be called "Indecisive Day".

9. All American cars are hereby banned. They are crp and it is for your own good. When we show you German cars, you will understand what we mean. All road intersections will be replaced with roundabouts. You will start driving on the left with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables. Roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

10. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips. Fries aren't even French, they are Belgian though 97.85 of you (including the guy who discovered fries while in Europe) are not aware of a country called Belgium. Those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called "crisps". Real chips are thick cut and fried in animal fat. The traditional accompaniment to chips is beer which should be served warm and flat.  
Waitresses will be trained to be more aggressive with customers.

11. As a sign of penance 5 grams of sea salt per cup will be added to all tea made within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, this quantity to be doubled for tea made within the city of Boston itself.

12. The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all, it is lager. From November 1st only proper British Bitter will be referred to as "beer", and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as "Lager". The substances formerly known as "American Beer" will henceforth be referred to as "Near-Frozen Knat's Urine", with the exception of the product of the American Budweiser company whose product will be referred to as "Weak Near-Frozen Knat's Urine". This will allow true Budweiser (as manufactured for the last 1000 years in Pilsen, Czech Republic) to be sold without risk of confusion.

13. From December 1st the UK will harmonise petrol (or "Gasoline" as you will be permitted to keep calling it until April 1st 2005) prices with the former USA. The UK will harmonise its prices to those of the former USA and the Former USA will, in return, adopt UK petrol prices (roughly $6/US gallon - get used to it).

14. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not adult enough to be independent. Guns should only be handled by adults. If you're not adult enough to sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist then you're not grown up enough to handle a gun.

15. Please tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us crazy.

Tax collectors from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all revenues due (backdated to 1776).

Thank you for your cooperation.

PLEASE READ AND REVIEW MY STORIES. CHEERS


	22. Inability

James stood staring at the burning words in utter disbelief, the blackboard not twisting as you might expect but the words burning as if they where etched there with lighter fluid. The orange smoulder surrounding them highlighted the text and gave it an eerie glow but nothing could compare to what the words actually said.

_I am Lord Voldemort_

They were so simple, they made perfect grammatical sense but in reality they might as well have been written in Aramaic for all the literal sense they made. The shock echoed around the room, everyone staring at the board their jaws almost touching the floor. Hermione had gone pale as if she was made out of rice paper making her look fragile and delicate, as if she was liable to faint or retch at that very moment. If the truth be told she looked almost as if she had been Petrified, but then again she had albeit in a different sense of the word.

He had always been the quick thinker, the one to make up plans and cover excuses but at this moment in time it struck James that he was just a teenager after all. A teenager who could well die with the simple wave of a single wand belonging to the caped figure standing tall in front of him; the figure that 30 seconds ago had worn the face of his potions mistress. Had Voldemort always been her? Had this been a cleverly worked out hoax lasting years or was Professor Gander out there somewhere? Was she even alive?

James could feel stabbing pains in his chest as the figure twisted in front of him, the cloak emphasising the simple movement. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion making it more dramatic, although James honestly didn't know how much more drama he could stomach in one night.

"Well, Harry Potter. I hope you realise just how useless this whole situation is?" the voice hissed, almost inaudible with the bitterness which ran through it. The man's face was now visible, and it was truly grotesque in the same way of the pictures of the Hindu god ripping out the insides of the atheist go was grotesque and made you want to look away. Pale skin stretched over a face in a style reminiscent of a shrunken head. The skin didn't seem to fit, it was too tight as if it was a balloon filled with too much water or as if a pair of tights had been stretched over the face like they did in muggle entertainments. Two eyes glinted within dark hollows of the eyes like the fires of hell or cursed rubies; they were the colour of blood, as if the supposed and expected pinkish tinge of the person had all been concentrated within the dark sockets which made the man seem almost skull like. But the face was twisted and deformed too, like a snake. The nose was flat with slit nostrils and the mouth ha very little in the way of lips and shape. It wouldn't have been surprising if a forked tongue was seen occasionally flicking out of the face.

Harry snorted, the whole scenario seemed to be occurring so slowly and yet in truth it had probably been only a matter of seconds since the polyjuice had started to wear off. "Never stopped me kicking up a fuss before though, has it?" he retorted. He sounded full of confidence but after hanging around with Harry for a few weeks James was pretty sure it was put on, he had never seen that arrogance before. It must have been a front; either that or he had got more from his father than James had initially thought.

Something quite alarming happened then, Voldemort laughed. It was not the kind of sound you expected to come out of a man believed by many to be the source of all evil but that twisted hiss which came from his throat was no doubt a sign of amusement.

"Harry, you just don't get it do you? I banked on you kicking and screaming. Time is a very delicate thing. You mere presence is probably more than enough to ensure that you will never even exist". Those thin lips twisted into a gruesome shape, a shape which might have once qualified as a smile but now just made the hairs on ones neck stand up and goose pimples to form down your pale, clammy arms.

"Fuck you" shouted Harry, causing everyone to stare at him in shock, even Voldemort's rhythm was disrupted, Harry used this to his advantage. Removing the wand from his side and pointing it directly at Voldemort before yelling "petrificus totalas"

James cursed his child's naivety, a full body bind would never work on the dark Lord, it would just anger him. He acted impulsively as he used a stunner on the barely human remains in front of him. He didn't leave enough time to see if the body bind would have had any effect, but the way Voldemort stood up immediately from the effects of 2 curses suggested that it would have minimal effect on its own.

"Crucio"

James didn't dare look at who it was heading too, whoever it was would have no way of getting out of it. It was unblockable, and in equal measure James hoped it would and wouldn't be him. If it was him it would hurt, he knew that much and those self-preservation instincts Lily had referred to earlier were starting to kick in. But if it was him that means that he wouldn't have to watch anyone he cared about in pain.

Screams quickly filled the room, they weren't James'. They weren't even male, meaning it was between James' unofficial love or Rons' unofficial love. James didn't want to find out, but unless he did he wouldn't be able to stop it. And that's the only thing that was scanning through his mind at this moment in time. The screams where the kind which makes your heart stop and you retch at the back of your throat.

It was Lily.

That pushed James over the edge; his actions were no longer them of a sane man. He shot curse after curse at Voldemort, not caring what they were. For all he knew they could have been jelly legs, or summoning charms maybe even a bat bogey but he didn't care. Word after word came flowing from his mouth, each hitting the dark lord with minimum effect, each one seemed to just bounce of him causing no damage at all and still Lily's screams filled the room. James was only partially aware that he wasn't the only voice yelling curses but he didn't care. To him this was HIS job; he had to save HIS damsel in distress. Lily was his future, he knew that now and nothing was going to stop it.

It was Voldemort who eventually lifted the curse, not out of obligation but it appeared to be more out of boredom. Lily collapsed to the floor as if she was little more than a rag doll being tossed put of a pram by a spoilt child. She made no movement as James ran over to her and instinctively rolled her over so he could see her face. She was alive, maybe even responsive as she let out a groan as she was moved but her famously green eyes stayed closed.

"You fucking bastard" James yelled, past thinking straight he had resorted to the same techniques employed on Snape. Pure anger had distorted the way he saw life. He didn't think about magic, he didn't think about physical violence; all he thought about was that his girlfriend, well the girl he desperately wanted to be his girlfriend. He didn't want to leave her side. He never wanted to leave her susceptible to such actions again. It was his entire fault; if he hadn't been such a coward he could have taken the curse for her. He could have stepped into it, he could have physically snatched the wand from Voldemort, and he could have pushed her out of the classroom as they all stood stupidly looking at the board. It was his entire fault.

The trio were staring intently at Voldemort, the marauders at James. Each had their whole attention span occupied by the sight in front of them. James didn't care anymore, he felt the wet run down his cheeks as silent sobs wrecked his body; he could taste the saline running into the creases of his lips. He couldn't see properly, the tears were blurring his vision and they had started to splash onto his glasses some more which with the condensation made it an impossible situation.

He absently mindedly ran his fingers through Lily's her, his hands shaking violently as he did so. He couldn't face the thought of losing her, it was their destiny. They were going to grow up, get married, have a child and die together. It couldn't end this way, it just couldn't. He willed each breath Lily took to keep coming. He knew about crucio, he had never seen it before but he knew that the pain could make someone just give up on life even once it was lifted. He knew that Lily must have been close to that point; she was shaking still, her eyes rapidly moving underneath her closed eyelids. He knew she was close because he had seen this happen to his own brother.

He was too late that time, and history has a habit of repeating itself.

* * *

**Wahey! It's almost Christmas, but as we all know some things have to happen to make you feel Christmassy and this is mine :-**

**Adverse Weather Policy **  
In the event of a heavy snowfall every effort will be made to keep the school open, but regard to the children's safety must be paramount. Accordingly:

In the event of heavy snowfall during the school day, the situation will be carefully monitored by Senior Management personnel and the School Office.  
We shall gather information from Manchester Weather Centre, the Police and local bus companies as to the state of the roads and predictions for the remainder of the day concerned. The school will respond to their advice.  
In the event of school closure and a 'staggered' evacuation, those children most at risk, i.e. those with physical disability and those who live in outlying areas, will be sent home first, provided they have access to their home or other place of safety. Such children, before they leave, must indicate their destination if it is not their home.  
After-school events, games, clubs, detention, choir, parents' evenings etc. will normally be postponed.  
Where adverse weather is forecast, pupils should be suitably clothed and provided with sufficient monies to cover bus fares.  
In the event of heavy snowfall or adverse conditions overnight, we will try to contact the local radio stations (Tower FM, GMR and Key 103) to broadcast details concerning whether school will be open or closed.  
_Pam Burrow, Deputy Headteacher_

**Silly, I left High school in 2001 but still this letter symbolises the start of Christmas to me. When we got given these then from that moment on excessive glitter on nights out and tinsel in your school bobbles where excusable. Teachers would start watching videos in classor playing on their N64s, loading them through the projectors and showing off their top scores to the class. **

**So, Merry Christmas everybody. I hope you enjoy it. Now go and buy BandAid20. It's an order. **


	23. Green

Harry knew what was going on, he could hear the screams as much he tried to blot them out. This was all Voldemort's idea of fun; he was doing this just to screw with Harry's mind. He was hoping that the shock would make him too emotional as he was that time in the Ministry of Magic, make him not care anymore, to make him rash and stupid.

It wasn't going to work a second time, he wouldn't let it.

He blocked out his mother's screams, he blocked out his father running to her immediate aid. It was the only way he could deal, he had to keep focussed on the battle in hand; otherwise Lily wouldn't be the only one to be subject to pain and torture.

Voldemort stood staring straight at Harry and they made eye contact. Red and green intently trying to stare into the others mind.

"You know it's all pointless. Time is fragile and you have – well let's put this in a way a dirty little half-blood such as yourself would understand – you have been as subtle as a bull in a china shop".

Harry stood, still staring at his nemesis, calculating his next move. When words finally came they were devoid of emotion and crisp and clear "Well, you'd know all about being a dirty little half-blood wouldn't you Tom?"

Voldemort made no obvious retaliation to this. He stood in the same proud posture as he had from the start; there was not even a twitch of a lip or the movement of an eye. It was as if the whole seen was on pause. Maybe he was playing the game the same was Harry was, maybe he was actually scared of him however unlikely that may seem.

Harry pushed this to the back of his mind; Voldemort was too arrogant to fear Harry. He was just playing to amuse himself; playing the game to humour the boy before going in for the kill – literally.

"You do know that this is now redundant? This is just a little extension work for me, an extra-curricular activity. You will never be born, you have altered the relationships of this time, and everything from this point on will be different. Think about the variables, even if your parents get together a different night, a different egg a different sperm and a different Harry Potter."

Harry just laughed "On the other hand everything might be the same. This might have happened originally." He gripped his wand by his side, knowing that Voldemort would reply to anything he sent too quickly, he would be better just dragging this out as he did in first year. Hopping for Dumbledore to suddenly appear and flush out the Dark Lord from the one place he was never supposed to attack, the one place everyone thought they were safe.

Harry was struggling to block out the panicked breathing of James in the corner, he could see the marauders in front of him even though he wasn't registering what they were doing. All that mattered in that room were him and Mr Tom Riddle (The name Voldemort was his choice, his idea to get people to fear him. Harry wouldn't give him the satisfaction. From this moment on, it would be Tom and Tom only). He could feel the back up Ron and Hermione were ready to provide as they stood next to him and he qould be eternally grateful for this even though he couldn't acknowledge it now. No doubt the couple were wandering why he was just talking, why he wasn't making the first move while he had the chance.

The truth is Harry had been in this situation too many times before, Voldemort was better than him when it came to duelling. At least when he was on his own, talking was stalling and stalling could give them a better chance of escape. It was worth the chance instead of provoking Voldemort and making him attack, no doubt meaning everyone in the room would be dead within 30 seconds.

Voldemort cleared his throat and in silky tones said "all the more reason for me to do this…aveda kedevra"

The green light flew at Harry at a rate of knots. He stood staring as the light came towards him almost as if it was in slow motion but dodging it would be as impossible as dodging a speeding bullet. It was going to hit him. He was going to die.

He could see nothing else in the room now, it seemingly was taking forever for the light to hit him but it was coming. All that Harry could see was this bright light less than a foot away now. He braced himself, stood up tall and waited for the wall to hit.

It was inches away; he took a breath and held it, closing his eyes and hoping that death was better than life. There was no flashing of images before his eyes; there was no white light or comforting choirs of angels or voices of loved ones who had already died. Just this knowledge of the inevitable, the green light was death and it was going to hit.

There would be no time to respond, no curse could be sent to send the bastard down with him. This was the end, Voldemort was now immortal. The last opportunity to get rid of him had gone in a blaze of green light.

Harry felt the light hit him as if it was a wall of ice, it took your breath away making your lungs collapse and each half breath you get froze the inside of your airways making it more and more painful. It stung all your skin before making it numb, you could feel you legs cave in beneath you as your vision slowly blurred into nothing but a bright light. Harry hit his head on the floor as he fell to the ground feeling the curse pass through his body. He could feel his scar stinging as if someone had just sliced it open with a scalpel. He could feel a liquid trickle from it before this too went numb. Finally it felt as if something was pulling at your body, like a centrifugal force was spinning your soul from you body, as if someone was pulling you away from your vehicle during life. It continued until the pain was intense

Then it all stopped, and Harry knew no more.

* * *

**Hello children – this tiny chapter is dedicated to Lil and baby Abbie/Harry who is being born at this very moment in time. 2 weeks late though, what you planning on being? A squatter?**

**Now channel 4 teletext, page 382 has a write-in section called Mega-zine. Basic rule is the more obscure your letter the better chance of it being printed. For example, my first letter was the correct way to eat a Crunchie. The email address is mega-zine(at)teletext(dot)co(dot)uk. You write under obscure names, e.g. Fluffy the Evil One, Manky Horrible Brussels Sprout, She Who Lost The Plot. Then there is the sister website www(dot)vegetablerevolution(dot)com which rocks.**

**Thirdly www(dot)key103(dot)com. My local radio from back home broadcast through this website now, and it's a decent radio station so I thought I'd give it a little plug. Enjoy. **

**PLEASE READ AND REVIEW. You know I get a little buzz when I get reviews, it makes me go all of a-tingle and also means I'm more likely to get writing again. **


	24. Rage

No matter how deep you are thinking or wallowing. Even if you are in the deepest panic and bordering on hysteria, (and it was fair to say James qualified under all these headings) certain things can bring you back to earth with a bump.

The words aveda kedevra being followed immediately by a brilliant green light definitely qualify in this category.

He'd already done the ignorance thing once, and it hadn't worked that time. But this time it wasn't as if there was any choice in the matter. Someone was dead, James guiltily thought for a moment that he hoped it was one of the trio. The marauders were his brothers. Then it hit him full force that Harry was his child and suddenly his priorities changed. The light was blinding and it took a good few seconds for the multicoloured blobs which danced in front of his eyes to disperse, clearing his view a little. Even though his sight was flawed he could feel the energy brush past him, a burst of wind blasted through the room, ruffling up his hair and from that sound of tearing, scattering parchment everywhere.

He had never been present when the killing curse was cast, and it was something he was grateful for, but the books they had to read in fourth year said nothing about blinding lights and mini hurricanes. It was no secret though that Voldemort was a powerful wizard, possibly one of the strongest of all time. Maybe the environmental changes were a direct result of the power unleashed through his wand. A violent reaction for a violent man.

The shapes started to settle down and implode within themselves, clearing James' vision some more. Three figures…one slumped on the floor. It could have been Remus, Peter and Sirius or it could be Ron, Hermione and Harry. James secretly and rather guiltily hoped for the latter.

His eyes swept the room, eyes stopping on the remaining marauders, 3 people all standing up looking with pale faces across the room. James continued his sweep until he saw the trio again, two kids kneeling down and one on the floor. Through his tear filled eyes from Lily he couldn't really make out who was who. He blinked a few times in frustration trying to clear the picture.

He partially wished he hadn't. On the floor was Harry, with his eyes closed he looked scarily like James; it was like he was seeing his own death. In fairness what he was seeing was 20 times worse, it was his son's death but he forced that to the back on his mind. The messy hair was the instant give away, his face lolled slightly to one side and his glasses askew.

Then there was his scar, usually meticulously hidden behind his fringe now it was impossible to hide with the scarlet blood, Harry's scarlet blood, working its way down his cheek. Harry was dead and nothing is as simple as dying. The boy he had spent the past few weeks with was no more; all that remained was a lifeless corpse lying on the floor.

But surely he wouldn't give in that easily. He'd got away before; surely he could do it again. Maybe he had natural immunity to the killing course, maybe surviving it the first time was the problem, maybe it was like mumps. Or maybe James was just clinging on to straws. Ignorance had been replaced with denial.

And yet he stood still, hands still entangled in Lily's auburn hair. He couldn't do anything; there was nothing he could do for them; except exact revenge.

James surveyed the scene with new passion in his eyes, his mind perfectly clear and engaged on the task ahead. He would not let that bastard ruin anyone else's family. He'd lost a brother, a friend and a son all at the hands of him. No way was he going to let him do the same to anyone else.

James stood up, holding his wand firmly by his side and looked to the front of the classroom.

The desk was slightly raised so the teacher could observe their class from high, supposedly making it easier to spot the troublemakers like James before anything occurred.

The blackboard was in the middle of the room, still covered with notes from that day, fourth year work from the looks of it, a simple potion which changed eye colour. The same potion supposedly Sirius thought Harry was using when he first appeared. James altered his attention back to the job in hand. Thinking about Harry hurt as if someone was slowly garrotting him. James felt as if he was going to heave, but the killing curse tended to have that effect on those around when it was uttered. God knows what it felt like when you knew it was going to hit you.

The blackboard was flanked by 2 tall bookcases, one side filled with books which hadn't been looked at for sometimes with the ridiculous amount of dust which rested on the top of them.

The other side had the more obscure potions ingredients, the kind which were only used once or twice and therefore didn't have to be bought by the pupils. Round bottom flasks containing purple liquids or small sample bottles with orange crystals, all different shapes and colours making the shelves look disorganised. Some plants where on the top shelf and obscure stones contained within the wooden boxes on the floor.

The room had little light, only windows where 6ft up and the room was only 7f high making the situation worse. This room didn't have plastering, or wooden panelling or any colour. It was all dark stone which was known to be damp in long periods of inclement weather. Everything about the room looked depressing.

But this had been seen thousands of time before, or at least seemingly thousands, potions had never been James' favourite subject. What James was craving to see wasn't there, he was blind from determination.

He wanted to see Voldemort, he wanted to see him standing proud and tall. He wanted to see the smirk on his face as he finally defeated his enemy. He wanted to see the foul creature for the snake he was. And he wanted to kill him as slowly and painfully as possible. He wanted to use something worse than crucio, he wanted a curse which would reflect just how bad he was feeling at this moment in time. Death was too good for Voldemort, but it was the best James could deliver.

But he wasn't there. The dark lord, wherever he was, was not in the dungeons of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

* * *

**Anyone want to beta this story? I need a Mr Brooke, someone to get my work and red pen all over it giving me ideas on how it can be better, what plot twists need to be clearer and what dialogue needs to be extended or cut. I need someone to show me where my spelling and punctuation need sorting out. Please consider it, you know my email (it's in the last paragraph of this a/n.) **

**I apologise for the delay in the updates, exam season is upon us. Out of pure superstition during my exams I wear my school tie in my hair. Never had a problem in the past, but some person changed the tie in the new HP movies and now everyone thinks that it's part of my obsession, and I'm getting agro. It isn't my fault – my school uniform just happened to be red and gold. **

**12th Feb 05, 1pm Liverpool Street Station, London. Everyone is invited, it promises to be a laugh. First time I went on one I knew no one and made some really good friends from it, there are over 20 of us going and some of them have never been before. www(dot)vegetablerevolution(dot)com for more information. I'm going to arrive at King's Cross at 12.45 so if anyone wants to meet there and I'll show you who the others are just email me littlemissskiz(at)aol(dot)com**

**Please read and review.**


	25. Varicose Veins

Harry felt like death, then he remembered that the basis of that feeling was that he probably was dead.

His head, well his scar, felt as if someone was enjoying scratching it out with a hair pin and the pounding in the head which accompanied it was far from comfortable.

What a whiz, the afterlife wasn't meant to hurt. It was meant to be angelic choirs and reunions with those who you had loved and lost. Feeling like Pavarotti was sitting on your chest was definitely not in the holiday brochure.

Wherever he was, be it heaven, hell or anywhere in between their must be someone there, lost friends and family, St Paul, the devil, anything. Death as a nothingness with pain was far too medieval for Harry's liking, there had to be something else. There just had to be.

It damn hurt opening his eyes, and the light hurt the very back of them but he refused to shut them. He wanted to see wherever he was.

His vision was dire, he couldn't see much at all. Just different shades of grey all blurred together. It was easing but in doing so at such a fatigued pace it was also painfully and slowly building up the suspense.

He'd failed again though, and he didn't like that particular thought. Maybe Harry was in hell, maybe he was finally being made to pay for how many lives he screwed up by just breathing. They could now get on with their lives; he was no longer dragging Ron and Hermione along for the ride. Dudley would finally get his second bedroom back. Granted Professor Trelawny would no longer have her favourite dead man anymore, but she might not look like as much of a fraud these days now Harry had finally kicked the bucket. On the whole the world would be better without Harry in it.

That headache was something else though, like a killer hangover. Harry hadn't even had a hangover yet. The Dursley's wouldn't give him drink and for the time being the wizarding world and school were interlinked. Only Seamus had ever succeeded in smuggling in anything with a volume greater than butterbeer…although Harry wouldn't put money against the twins having eclipsed his efforts of 2 bottles of firewhiskey.

Ironic, here he was in pain and not knowing what the hell was going on and he was thinking about what the twins had and had not gotten away with during their years. It amazing how muddled your brain can get at times, or maybe he was in that sweet denial where he wasn't admitting the fact he had just been hit with a killing curse.

Harry found his vision was clearing; maybe death wasn't nothingness after all. Although it didn't alter the fact he still hurt, a lot.

Then he realised as the blurs cleared what was going on. He wasn't dead, he couldn't be. Not if that red hair belonged to his best friend.

He instinctively straightened his glasses on his face, he saw Hermione stare at him shell shocked and it occurred to him this is why he should be grateful to still have a pulse. Because he had the best friends in the world if they felt about him like he did them (and Harry hoped with all his might they did) he couldn't die on them, that would be just plain selfish.

"Didn't think I'd give up that easily?" Harry said, suddenly feeling 20 times better than 30 seconds ago.

"You gave us a scare though" Ron offered, slight chuckle in his voice although it was tinged with wariness, like he shouldn't be seeing the plain and clear act which was in front of him. A grin was also spreading across his face too, one which Harry felt his muscles mirroring as if it was a highly contagious form of muscle spasm.

Then it hit Harry as if he was being hit by another killing curse (maybe that was fast becoming his speciality). It might not have worked but HE would still be there. Lord Voldemort was probably less than 10 metres away from him. The reunion would have to wait for the time being.

His eyes felt like after the second task in the lake, with so much water in them he had to strain to focus and every movement ground and scratched is if his eyes needed lubricating. Then he saw it. The shadow. It wasn't a man, it wasn't even a thing, and less than the deformed child Voldemort was at the beginning of fourth year.

He'd made the same mistake twice. History repeats, it was a well known fact that if Hitler had bothered reading about Russia we'd all be speaking German. And here it was in just as much clarity and possibly similar consequences. Harry couldn't help but wonder if Avada Kedevra felt so painful the first time around.

Harry became instinctively away of Ron and Hermione next to him, they had fought together so many times he didn't need to look to see they saw it too. Harry fumbled behind him and picked up the wand he must have dropped by his side, he was being less than discrete but Voldemort was fleeing. He was going to get away. Harry couldn't let that happen. Not again, not after Pettigrew.

He grabbed the wand and pointed it at Voldemort saying the first curse which came into his head.

"Stupefy"

He didn't know why he picked that one, the killing curse would probably be more appropriate but unforgivables were, well, unforgivable. He wasn't going to play by Voldemort's rules and that was the best he could think up at such short notice.

It was like deja-vu though. He's been in a dark room before with Ron and Hermione facing a dark figure. And just as that time in the Shrieking Shack when Harry yelled his curse of choice with as much passion as he could get behind it his wasn't the only voice which resonated through the dungeons.

Ron and Hermione had been there too.

The three red jets were emitted in perfect synchrony, the curse was in stereo. They moved towards the shadow and hit it together. The red spread throughout, like small varicose veins penetrating the shadow. They spread and continued to multiply and if the thing was still Voldemort it would be screaming, it did appear to be writhing in pain.

Harry could feel Hermione almost fall into him but he couldn't take his eyes off the sight. He knew that no one else in the room probably could either.

Then it exploded, no shrapnel or metal filled the room but a pulse could be felt. A pulse as if you were going around a particularly violent rollercoaster. The shadow disintegrated. Just as Harry felt it tingle through him, Hermione grabbed his wrist. She felt it too. Like every single nerve and muscle had been invigorated. Like running from the sauna and jumping in the freezing plunge pool.

It was official; defeating Dark Lords was an invigorating experience. All the pain went and Harry felt like he was buzzing, so much energy he had.

And the golden trio stood there absolutely transfixed at the site where very recently a powerful dark wizard had stood. Harry felt the grin spread across his face. He knew what had just happened. But he didn't want to admit it, just in case it would jinx the whole moment. As if saying it out loud would be Voldemort's cue to burst in the room, even though the bastard was dead he didn't want to tempt fate.

"So, is that it?" Ron finally offered.

No one replied.

* * *

**Have a little interlude. I base the marauders on my prefect team from high school. These were their entries into my leaver's book. Jamie James, Paul Peter, Alex Sirius, Rob Remus (All have the same first letter apart from Kingy, and no matter how hard I try Alexander King can never sound like Sirius Black). Hope it gives you a little insight into the lives of the marauders and what they are like in my story. **

**Dearest Kim, On reflection you weren't as annoying as some of the people in our year, so when I rule the world I might not even have you killed (not straight away anyway). I hope you will be merry and jolly and etc, etc. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah – No seriously, I hope the treatment works. If you are an old woman and reading this you will probably see my face everyday on bank notes anyway. See you either soon, or never, Jamie Ellis 11C**

**To my girlfriend Kim, As everyone in the world has assumed you and I are an "item" I will keep this short and very sweet. The past five, I would say, have been the best in my life so far, it has been a delight spending most of them with you – either at school, in the city of Manchester, the cinema or most memorably on the phone (£60!!!). Jamie is incorrect, he will not rule the world. I will, the most famous architect in the history of mankind. I will most likely have my own home improvement channel on BBCD, where as you will have a 30min cooking programme on channel 5. It is getting close to the end, the final bell is looming and unfortunately (I can't spell) we are going to different colleges (which has absolutely no bearing on either of our higher education). I'm sure, even though we will go to different establishments, we will keep in contact courtesy of BT. I wish you the best of luck with your exams (You won't need it) and with your long lived future. Let's hope both of us find the right man. With lots and lots of love xxPaulxx**

**Hey Kim!! What are you doing now? Contrary to what Jamie and Paul say they will not rule the world. I WILL!!! REMEMBER!!! You will be my slave!! You will be my slave!! You will be my slave!! Yes I have written this standing up, so it does look a bit strange. "Forever united by the text message" Alex **

**To Kim, By the time you can remember who I was or who wrote this I'll be 250million miles away on Mars, which might be for the best. Good luck in the future, whatever insanE (sic) career you chose. All the best, Rob (head muff).**

**I am sorry about cliffies…they mainly come when I think "Oh shit, where do I take it from here". I am not deliberately being evil. I am just being lazy. Hope this one isn't too bad for you. Read and review please :)**


	26. Quicksand and 10 ton weights

It was an odd feeling for seemingly forever, like time had turned into quicksand and didn't want you to do anything at all. Initially, immediately after that curse it was like every single molecule of Harry's body was alive and vibrating at a frequency which dogs would probably be able to hear. Now it was like every thought of movement he wanted to do had a 10 ton weight attached to it, preventing it moving at the natural speed it wanted to.

Then the paranoia kicked in, but yet everyone secretly knew in the back of their head that the answer to Ron's question was "Yes, that's it". At last one ruddy great big chapter of their lives had come to an end.

And once that numbness, a numbness which had last far too long for his liking, had worn off Harry could feel every muscle in his face pull his mouth into a smile. He didn't know weather to collapse to the floor in some kind of blessed relief or if screaming and dancing around the room was a more appropriate answer.

He decided to do the one thing he always did when totally unsure about something, look to his mates.

Ron's face was classic, he stared from his wand to the spot Voldemort occupied just a few minutes ago and back to his wand, still looking for the answer to his question; unwilling to commit himself to one answer or another before the brainiac or hero confirmed it. He clicked and made eye contact with the latter resulting in the look of utter disbelief vanishing from his face as his eye's locked with the emeralds of his best mate. He got that contagious grin too, "Prophesy my arse, we bloody did it".

Hermione started laughing uncontrollably, almost a nervous hysterical laugh of a mad woman. This resulted in Ron and Harry spinning around in unison to stare at her. "Don't jinx it, but….." she said, her eyes sparkling. It was obvious what she actually believed.

She ran over and pulled the 2 of them into a big group hug, and the usually macho and hard men actually hugged back.

But then through the mess of Hermione's bushy hair Harry caught view of something which must had been there for some time, and yet he had pushed it to the back of his mind. He ignored it till he had time to deal, and now it was back to haunt him.

The guilt which consumed him for this oversight made him feel positively sick, he could feel a lump in his throat growing bigger by the second and his eyes filled with tears once again. He tentatively broke away from his mates and walked across the room.

James appeared to be totally oblivious to what happened in the rest of the room, he was hunched over Lily, his hands still twisted in her flaming hair. All colour had left his face as he knelt over the perfectly still figure of the woman who would one day become his wife and Harry's mum; providing that she got through this.

James looked up at Harry, hazel eyes obscured by tears and looking like each piece of hope in them had been dragged out, "She's…." he started but the words got caught in his throat and came out as a subtle choke.

He tried again though, never breaking eye contact with Harry. "Infirmary…" he said, although you had to strain to here it it was said all the same. The pounding in Harry's throat eased a little, dead people didn't need infirmaries. But the pain was still there; clouding everything in his mind as if he was looking out of a car windscreen on a particularly frosty morning. So clear when it came to defeating the dark lord the relatively simple task of taking someone from one side of the castle to the other was beyond him.

That quicksand feeling was back.

* * *

Harry was only partially aware of everything that happened from that moment on, he vaguely recalled Hermione saying something, and Ron picking up Lily and taking her. He remembered walking down bits of corridor, but whether it was in silence or in a hurry he didn't know as his mind was swimming with dreams and nightmares, hopes and fears.

Looking back on the whole experience it was like someone else had taken temporary control of his body while he was on a holiday. He was definitely on automatic pilot and it wasn't until a good while later he found himself sat in the hospital wing and appreciating what was going on.

Maybe it was the stench of the place which brought him to his senses, just as muggle hospitals have that odour of antiseptic constantly in the air; Madame Pomfrey's domain had a slightly different but equally as distinctive smell of some fresh smelling substance which cleared your head as soon as you caught the slightest whiff of it.

He was surrounded by everyone who had been in that dungeon. Lily was lying in the hospital bed, tightly wrapped in the pristine and stiffly starched white sheets while James was asleep on in the chair next to the bed, head on the bed so all that was visable was his messy black hair. Sirius and Remus were sitting out of it slightly, occasionally whispering things to one another but never loud enough to make out what it was, they were obviously feeling awkward at being in this whole situation.

Harry was vaguely aware of Hermione holding his hand; although she was asleep on Ron's shoulder she kept this physical connection. The red head had one arm wrapped around her, maybe out of this whole experience those two might realise that they were destined to be together.

"Dumbledore must have said something" Harry said, to no on in particular.

Ron looked up, "What's that mate?" He said,

"Dumbledore, when was the last time this many people where allowed in the infirmary?"

Ron let out a slight chuckle; it's funny how your mind works in stressful situations. "True, usually we would be being chased out by one rather stressed matron with broom in hand by this point". Ron mused, letting a small smile out to his friend. He sobered and locked eyes with Harry, so he couldn't squirm out of the question. "How are you holding up?" he asked tentatively.

Harry shrugged, "I'm still here, has to be a good sign, right?"

Hermione stirred slightly in her sleep, and Ron held her close again. Harry let go of her hand, letting it drop back against her side, out of the awkward position it had been twisted in.

"So, it's just a waiting game, is it?" Harry asked anyone who was listening.

"Yeah," Remus said from the corner, his voice horse, "She'll be fine though. Just waiting for her to wake up."

Harry felt the weight of the world life from his shoulders; his mum was going to be fine. They hadn't screwed up anything that greatly after all. He felt faint, but in a good way, like he'd just taken his first full breath in a few hours and he shuddered as he released it, his eyes watered up again but he wasn't going to cry. Not here, not now. It wouldn't help in anyway so why bother, so instead he let out a big smile.

"And anyways, what does it feel like to defeat a dark lord?" Sirius asked, and at that moment in time Harry didn't know whether to swot him for insensitivity to the situation or weather to wonder if this was one of the best feelings of his life.

It was all going to be fine, it had to be. The shitty stuff had been done, no more dark lord on their back, no lasting damage to Lily, 2 new couples formed.

Now it was just about getting home….and saying sorry.

* * *

**I am more than a little pissed off, my computer died and with it went everything. So that's why this chapter has taken forever and a day to get up. Add into that the ever present degree and I have been rushed off my feet. Sorry about that.**

**Also I've promised myself that every chapter I write will now be in excess of 2 sides of A4. I might be back to gut this chapter, not enough dialogue for my liking. **

**Thank you all for the pestering emails and reviews. Please continue doing it. It's the summer holidays in 2 weeks. And then I'll have no excuse.**


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